An employee at RSPCA Canterbury and District Branch was arriving at work for the day when they saw a box outside the shelter’s gate. They assumed it was an Amazon package and got out of their car to collect it. As they got closer, though, they realized
something wasn’t right.
The box wasn’t a delivery at all. It was taped up with a few holes poked in the cardboard — and inside were a mama cat and her three kittens.
Immediately, the employee sprang into action. They freed the little family from the box and brought them inside the shelter to get checked out. There was no food or water left inside the box and only a few air holes, making everyone thankful the family was found when they were.
After staff members reviewed the CCTV footage outside the shelter, they discovered the family had been abandoned at 12:50 a.m., meaning they’d been waiting inside the cramped box all night long. Thankfully, all four are OK and are now doing well in the care of the RSPCA.
Since the sweet black cat family was found in October, the shelter named them Tricksy, Hexie, Jinksie and Spookie.
Unfortunately, black cats ending up at shelters is not uncommon. The RSPCA currently has more black cats in its care than any other kind, and they tend to wait three times as long to get adopted as other cats. Many people hesitate to adopt black cats for superstitious reasons, or even because they find them to be less photogenic.
This week marked National Black Cat Appreciation Day, and the RSPCA is urging people to take a look at the black kitties they have up for adoption and give one a chance.
“This National Black Cat Day and with Halloween just days away we hope to reignite a love for black cats, whether it’s Binx from Hocus Pocus, Salem from Sabrina or one of the many black cats in RSPCA centres looking for homes — we think black cats, like all cats, are the best,” Alice Potter, cat welfare expert at the RSPCA, said in a press release.
Tricksy, Hexie, Jinksie and Spookie are resting up and healing after their ordeal. As soon as they’re back to full health, they’ll be put up for adoption, and will hopefully break the black cat curse by finding their forever families right away.
