A woman was caught on camera Thursday in the early morning abandoning a box of kittens at the Humane Society of North Texas.
Cassie Davidson, director of communications at the Humane Society of North Texas (HSNT), told WFAA that the incident occurred around 4:45 a.m.
The footage shows an unidentified woman exiting her vehicle and placing a cardboard box containing two kittens on the ground near the facility. Both animals were later found to be alive, but they were suffering from dehydration and in need of medical attention.
The incident happened only a day after the organization had reported an increase in abandoned pets being left out in the life-threatening heat.
HSNT posted videos of multiple dogs that had been abandoned in the triple-digit temperatures, noting an increase in such incidents. Two of the dogs, including a three-month-old puppy, did not survive, dying from heat-related illnesses, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“At HSNT, we have a 97% live release rate, and we do whatever it takes to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome all the animals that come through our door (or are left near our doorstep!), but we need our community’s help,” the organization wrote on Facebook.
“The problem is the heat makes it harder for these animals to be left somewhere. Because they are not left in the shade or left with water. They’re just left,” said Dr. Cynthia Jones, director of clinic medicine at HSNTX, according to WFAA. “So they end up with heat stroke, or heat prostration. And a large part of those animals don’t make it. Because they end up in organ failure.”
“Don’t give up on your pets. Those are part of your family,” said Jones, according to WFAA. “Do something where you are responsible for that pet for as long as they live. And that’s what we hope to have everybody do.”
The Humane Society of North Texas held an adoption event at Petco Westover Village at 465 Sherry Ln. in Fort Worth over the weekend.