Security Camera footage of a person abandoning a kitten at the Marshfield Area Pet Shelter. Image courtesy: MAPS/Facebook
MARSHFIELD, WI (WSAU) — Workers at the Marshfield Area Pet Shelter found a kitten that was left by their dumpster early Tuesday morning as they were opening the facility for the day.
According to a post on Facebook, the kitten was found at about 7 AM and was “very stressed out.” Employees went back to check security camera footage from the previous night and discovered that the cat had been dropped off sometime around midnight.
Director Karen Rau says by not making the effort to surrender the kitten during business hours, its former owner has left them with that much more work to do.
“We have no information on this kitty. We don’t know if they have any kind of medical concerns, we don’t have any kind of record of their physcial health, their behavior, nothing. We have to start over with all of that,” she said.
Rau adds that no one who calls the shelter to surrender a pet is shamed or put through any sort of negativity. Workers at the shelter simply want what’s best for the animal, and sometimes that’s not staying in their current home. “We never pass any kind of judgement to people when they call us. We are here to help and we want to provide that conversation and that education.”
That includes resources on how to re-home a pet on your own without having to go through the Humane Society, which can be easily done online. “If people don’t call and leave a message, we don’t get that opportunity so we’re not helping the animal,” she added.
The animal was in a carrier covered with a blanket. The owner appears to have also dropped off a partial bag of food with the kitten.
Officials add that they have a no-questions-asked surrender policy, and they encourage anyone who can’t care for their pets anymore to arrange a time with them so the pet or pets don’t have to go through unnecessary trauma.
The kitten was left without any further medical or identification information, other than they can tell she’s been declawed. Meaning they don’t know if she has been vaccinated or any other health conditions she may suffer from.
Additionally, the person parked their vehicle down the street from the shelter and took other steps to hide their face from security cameras to avoid detection.
The shelter reminds residents that animal abandonment is against the law in Wisconsin. Information about the incident has been turned over to the Marshfield Police Department.
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