COLUMBUS, Ohio — Three kittens who were found abandoned in dangerously cold conditions at a southern Ohio state park were rescued on Thursday.
According to a release from the Fayette Regional Humane Society, a good Samaritan told a park ranger, Savannah Henley with the U.S. Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, about two kittens found at the base of a tree at Paint Creek State Park. There was also another kitten stuck about 25 to 30 feet up on a tree branch, who was too scared to come down.
Two other kittens were found near the tree, but they were frozen and deceased. Temperatures were about 9 degrees at the time.
FRHS agents were on there to the scene to help assist. Henley, Isaac Greene and Nathan Sharp, who both work for FRHS, were able to rescue the cat stuck on the tree branch, who was named Oakland.
Credit: Fayette Regional Humane Society
While the agents were on their way to the park, the good Samaritan took the two other kittens, Briar and Maple, to the Ross County Humane Society for care. Staff at RCHS contacted FRHS so the kittens, who are siblings, could reunite.
The siblings are back together at the FRHS Animal Care and Adoption Center. FRHS says they do not have any serious injuries. They do have a minor upper respiratory infection and are receiving treatment.
The agency says the rescue effort was possible thanks to the good Samaritan, staff at Paint Creek State Park and the Fayette and Ross County humane agencies.
Due to where the kittens were found and their socialized behavior, it’s believed the kittens were abandoned at the park.
“It is absolutely abhorrent that anyone could discard five helpless lives in a freezing park like trash,” said Dr. Lee Schrader, Executive Director of the Fayette Regional Humane Society. “While we are relieved to have saved three of these kittens, the senseless, freezing death of the other two is a cruelty that simply has no place in our community.”
FRHS says abandoning animals is both inhumane and illegal. Anyone with information is asked to contact the agency.
