A kitten discovered abandoned in a suitcase on the side of the road clinging to life among his dead siblings has been named Phoenix.
Dunedin Cat Rescue co-founder Sharon Pine said the incident was "absolutely awful".
The organisation was notified through social media after a woman and her partner found the kittens in a suitcase on the side of Coalstage Rd in Kinmont about 8.30pm on Wednesday last week, Ms Pine said.
They were told at least one of the kittens was still alive and one of the rescue group’s fosterers raced to the site, where she found the suitcase was gone.
In its place, there were three kittens, all dead from head injuries, alongside one kitten — since dubbed Phoenix — who was still alive.
Phoenix was friendly and it was clear the litter had not been born in the wild.
The 400g kitten was extremely hungry and distressed when he was taken in, but soon became one of the most affectionate kittens they had ever seen.
"He’s a dear wee fellow," Ms Pine said.
The brutal death of the other kittens was heartbreaking, and Ms Pine had been left sad, angry and struggling to understand how and why someone could do such a thing to the innocent, defenceless young animals.
"It’s disgusting ... It was so unnecessary."
While they were already at capacity, having rescued 233 kittens since the start of the year, they would always find a way to get a feline to safety, even if it took a few days.
The organisation had seen neglect before, but never anything like the suitcase incident.
It was unclear exactly how long the kittens had been abandoned on the side of the road, but the suitcase had been there long enough to leave an indentation in the grass.
The kittens were about six weeks old, which was too young to be separated from their mother.
The incident had been reported to both police and the SPCA, and she hoped whoever had killed and abandoned the litter faced prosecution.
She encouraged anyone with any information to contact police.
A police spokesman said the file into the death of the kittens had been closed in absence of any lines of inquiry.
- Police 105 online, file number 230406/5033.
