A MOTHER cat’s determination to survive and devotion to her one-day-old kitten defied human cruelty at the weekend when she freed herself and her baby from a box that had been dumped in Riverhorse Valley, Durban, with a large, heavy rock placed on top.
CCTV footage now in the possession of the SPCA shows the sequence of events starting with two men arriving in a bakkie, who dump a box near bush off a pathway and place a rock on top of the box. The bakkie then leaves.
The camera zooms back to the box, where movement is seen.
Soon afterwards, a cat pushes its head out from under the rock and forces its way out. It stays close to the box and surveys its surroundings. The cat then moves across into the bush to survey further, and then, within seconds, is back, delving into the box.
The rock falls into the box, but the cat emerges holding a tiny kitten in her mouth and scuttles off into the bush.
Both animals are now being kept at the SPCA and are in good health, says SPCA spokeswoman Caroline Smith. They have been named Ava and Basil.
From the footage, the organisation has obtained the registration details of the bakkie, and yesterday opened a case of cruelty to animals against the perpetrators with the police.
Smith said the SPCA inspectorate had received a call from a security company in Riverhorse Valley on Monday concerned about a cat and kitten that had been dumped in the area the previous afternoon.
Inspector Roshen Rupee went to the scene and found a small box with a rock inside. He was amazed to find the cat and her kitten in the bush nearby.
“Rupee was advised that the security company had captured everything on security cameras. He rescued the cat and kitten and brought them to our SPCA, where they were both found to be in good health, albeit that the mother was very stressed. The adult cat is a tortoiseshell and the kitten a tabby.
“Both mom and kitten are being sheltered here until the kitten is at least six weeks old, whereupon we will be in a position to try and find them a home.
“These cats are not feral, but extremely domesticated.”
Smith said it was “outrageous” that Riverhorse Valley was a few minutes’ drive from the SPCA’s premises in Springfield Park.
“These pets could have been dropped off at our premises as unwanted, with no questions asked. Even if after hours, our security is on site to accept unwanted pets. There is no necessity to dump or abandon animals when the SPCA is here to assist,” she said. - The Mercury