Three dumped kittens were found on the Esschebaan in Vught on Saturday morning. But before the animal ambulance could pick up the animals to care for them, they were taken away. A man who initially offered to help eventually just ran off with the animals. To the astonishment of animal ambulance employee Marianne. “It must have been with the best intentions. But those kittens now need the right care.”
The Den Bosch Animal Ambulance was called by a runner around a quarter to ten in the morning. An elderly lady walking her dog had found a box with three hypothermic kittens near a garbage can and bench on the Esschebaan. They were all black with white spots. Because the woman was standing with the box in her hands and also had to hold her dog, she asked the runner for help.
“He wanted to take them right away.”
While the animal ambulance was being called, the elderly lady also stopped a man in a white Audi A3. Marianne also heard that on the other side of the phone. “He immediately said that the kittens looked nice and that he wanted to take them with him,” the animal ambulance volunteer recalls.
“But we immediately said that this was not the intention and that the animals had to be checked first anyway.” It was unclear how old the kittens were and how long they had been out in the cold.
“First their eyes were closed, then open again, so it was difficult for us to determine when they were born,” Marianne explains. Later she understood that kittens were the size of a hand. That would mean they are about six weeks old.
“It’s strange that he decided that on the spot.”
She found it strange that the motorist, who was supposed to come from Biezenmortel, decided in the blink of an eye that he wanted to take the three kittens with him. “Because regardless of their medical condition, you need quite a few things when you bring such young animals into your home. Very few people have all the necessities lying around.”
The driver eventually went back on his offer to take the animals home. He offered to take the three animals to the warm canteen of the Zwaluw VFC football club. “We thought that was a great idea given the cold. He just had to take a detour and the older lady could walk inside.”
“She actually didn’t have a good feeling about it.”
The driver took the box of kittens and then turned onto Bergenshuizensestraat. “The runner actually didn’t have a good feeling about it, but couldn’t chase it anymore,” says Marianne. And that premonition turned out to be correct, because the older lady ended up waiting in vain with the animal ambulance in the parking lot of the football club.
To be on the safe side, the animal ambulance was driven to the Essche Boys football club, which is also nearby. But they didn’t find the man and the kittens there either. “And we actually heard him say on the phone that he would drive to the parking lot and wait for us.”
“They really need to be checked.”
Marianne hopes that the man will repent and contact the animal ambulance or bring the kittens to Den Bosch. “They really need to be checked by a vet and need the right care while they are still so young.” She doesn’t think the man wants to sell the animals. “There are so many kittens, you hardly earn anything from them.”