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A litter of abandoned kittens were found in a bin bag and nursed back to health by refuse collectors.
Trigger warning: animal abuse and death
The heartbreaking video, which was posted on TikTok by @les_aventures_de_sauvee, shows the refuse loaders tearing open a bin bag in which newborn kittens were disposed of with no regard or humanity for their lives.
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You can watch the sad video here, which was captioned, “Another sad rescue, I am disgusted”:
Thankfully, the workers came to the rescue after hearing the kittens’ cries, telling the camera in French: “There you go, little kittens.”
“Get out of the bin,” one man tells his colleague.
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The refuse collectors managed to break open the bag to reveal a number of newly born kittens, not just the one like they initially thought.
Clearly shaken from the cruel discovery, the men utter: “I can’t believe it!” and “Poor little ones.”
“Oh it’s not just one!”, the men added, realising there is more than one tiny animal in the bag.
Unfortunately, not all of the kittens made it through the ordeal, with one of the men noting: “No…one of them is dead.”
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“Oh s***,” one of the men says. “We are in deep s***”.
One of the refuse workers have since taken the kittens in and began caring for them, sharing a sweet video in which they’re bundled up in a wool hat and kept safe in a cardboard box.
The kittens “are all very well, they only ask to live", the refuse collector said in the caption of a subsequent video in which he shared pictures of the tiny animals being bottle-fed.
A spokesperson for the RSPCA said of the heartbreaking original video: “This is so distressing to watch and it is never acceptable to abandon any animal like this. There are always options available to people who feel they can not cope, or when their circumstances have changed.
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“Thankfully, because of the kindness and quick-thinking of the refuse collectors, these kittens were saved in time. Many animals are sadly not so lucky.”
They added: “In England and Wales, we’re seeing abandonments rise month on month and are braced for a surge of abandoned and neglected animals as pet ownership soared during the lockdown, with an estimated 3.2m people welcoming pets into their lives last year.
“As an animal welfare charity, we have rescue teams out in all weather 356 days of the year, helping animals who have been victims of abuse, abandonment, neglect and suffering and hope people will help us help animals at the time they need us most.”
For more information on what to do if you can no longer care for a pet, please see the RSPCA's website.
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To help the RSPCA continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming animals in desperate need of care please visit their website or call their donation line on 0300 123 8181.
With special thanks to freelance journalist Marine Pérot, for translating the video.
Featured Image Credit: TikTok @les_aventures_de_sauveeTopics: Animals, Good News, World News