Two cats were dumped in a taped-up box outside a Cumbrian animal shelter’s base for volunteers to find.
Animal Rescue Cumbria, near Kendal, found the cats left on its front doorstep on Sunday.
In a social media post, the shelter said: “To the person who left us this parcel, we want you to know that we simply had no space for your two cats.
“Our staff have gone above and beyond, taking animals home to create room.”
It said it was the third time the charity had animals abandoned in this manner.
It added: “It breaks our hearts to remember that the last time, one of the three cats in the box didn’t make it. It was a tragedy we never want to see repeated.”
Despite the dire situation the cats were left in, the shelter has confirmed that the two young female cats, while still anxious, were well and settling in.
The pair have since been named Wanda and Agatha.
The shelter is also currently looking after 17 extremely unwell cats from an emergency intake as well as one cat in recovery with a fractured pelvis, which has meant resources have been pushed to the limit.
Marion Yates, manager at the shelter, said: “We’re set up to deal with 300 animals a year and that’s what we’ve done for the past decade, but so far this year we’ve had 414 animals, so we’re well over and we’re only in September.
“We don’t have any funding and for every cat we take in it costs us around £100 to get it neutered, defleaed, wormed, microchipped and blood tested and if they need any dental work that cat can cost us £500 before rehoming.
“So having animals come out of the blue is a huge amount financially for us and it’s a huge worry if we can’t regulate the numbers coming in.”
Marion added that people should never fear handing over their pets to a shelter if they are in a desperate situation and should never see abandoning their pets – even on a doorstep – as an option.
She said: “We will always try to help if we possibly can, at the moment there is a waiting list, but we will never turn people away if it is a dire emergency.
“We don’t judge people, we understand there’s lots of very desperate people out there who have no other option for their pets, but please call us and explain the circumstances first, don’t abandon them like this.
“The thing that worries us most about these situations is we’re in a rural environment, and foxes can easily get into boxes and even if they’re not hurt they can be horrendously traumatised and it’s just not fair.”
You can donate to Animal Rescue Cumbria and find more ways to support them by clicking here.
