Crying kittens rescued from dumpster in Fort Worth neighborhood
What could have been a cat-astrophic day for 14 abandoned kittens ended happily after the little ones were rescued from a dumpster — on trash pickup day.
Maintenance worker Jeannie Williams was alerted to the distressed kittens about 9:45 a.m. Tuesday by a man unloading bricks in the dumpster at the Westcliff Park Apartments, 3481 South Hills Ave., south of TCU.
“He called me over and I could hear them crying,” Williams said. “They were dirty and all over the inside of the dumpster, liked someone had thrown them.”
Williams climbed inside, plucked them out one by one, and placed them in the bed of the truck. There were 14 with the oldest about 4 weeks old. The kittens apparently came from three litters.
Another employee arrived with a large cage, and the kittens were loaded up and moved to the office.
From there, residents Angie and Jim Blake were called and they loaded the mostly black kittens into a dog carrier. They then took the kittens across the street to the Westcliff Animal Hospital, where they were given free medical treatment.
“Their heartbeats were good, we got ointment for their eyes and antibiotics,” Angie Blake said Tuesday. The Blakes returned to their apartment and used social media to find help.
Kirstie Massingill with the Fort Worth Animal Shelter’s foster program for sick and abandoned animals heard about the Blakes’ plea for help and responded.
She picked up the kittens and will help get them ready for rescue or foster homes.
“We will keep them until they are healthy,” Massingill said.
One kitten, however, stayed behind.
The Blakes “fell in love” and kept one of the kittens, adding to their furry family of cats, Salem, Garfield and Sunny, and dog, Buddy.
“We decided to keep one, not that we need anymore,” Angie Blake said.
Staff photographer Paul Moseley contributed to this report.
Domingo Ramirez Jr.: 817-390-7763, @mingoramirezjr
This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Crying kittens rescued from dumpster in Fort Worth neighborhood."