Injured Prince George kitten found abandoned at Total Pet

An injured kitten no more than a day or two old was found abandoned at Total Pet this morning (March 24).

The kitten has seemingly been abandoned the night before and was only discovered when Total Pet staff began hearing strange noises.

“We kept thinking we were hearing something eventually the kitten gave out one big scream and we both knew then there was a kitten in the store,” Total Pet employee, Taylor Garraway tells PrinceGeorgeMatters.

She says she and a coworker found the kitten inside a shopping bag.  The kitten was also so young that his umbilical cord was still attached, and was very injured on his back end.

“His legs were flipped up onto his back and his spine was exposed and it does look like his tail was cut off,” says Garraway.  “Our goal was to just get him comfortable so we phoned animal control and within ten minutes they were here and they took him.”

She says they also tried to give him milk, but he wouldn’t take it.

“It was absolutely heartbreaking you could tell he was in pain,” says Garraway. “We are all sick to our stomachs.”

After a Facebook post that included security photos of the people who allegedly abandoned the cat was shared online, Garraway says she received a call from a person claiming to be the woman who left the cat in the store.

“She told us she didn’t know what to do,” says Garraway, adding “I explained to her that it was not the right thing to do and she should have just straight up told us instead of hiding him in the store because he went 24 hours without milk.”

Garraway says she also received some information from the caller regarding the kitten's condition.

“She said he was born breech, so his feet were deformed at birth, but he had a missing tail and his spine was showing, and that doesn’t happen at birth. You can tell something had happened to him."

Garraway says she has not contacted the RCMP, because the woman who allegedly abandoned the cat says she would turn herself in.

“I talked to her earlier and told her that is what she needs to do, but if not, obviously, we will take it a step further,” says Garraway.

She says the only further information she has is that Animal Control has taken the kitten to the vet, however, Garraway does not have high hopes for his recovery.

“I’m surprised he even made it the night. Hopefully, he’s at rest now but it was a very sad, sad morning.”

Garraway says the little kitten is not the first animal, she’s found abandoned near the Victoria Street store.

“We do go through a few things like that every year,” says Garraway. “Last year I found some rabbits in the dumpster and ended up saving them, fostering them and got them new homes”

PrinceGeorgeMatters has reached out to the RCMP for comment.