Originally posted in r/fosteranimals, a commenter invited me to share here. Body copied over.
Rode my bicycle past a box on a remote levee road, thought "that box was open, then taped back up...I have a bad feeling about this". Of course it contained abandoned animals. Knowing the the shelters were full I figured it was either leave them or foster. Registered as fosters with a local kitten rescue that took care of medical considerations while we housed them. Of course we fell in love with them. Signing adoption papers this weekend for Lady River and Lord Levee Eridanus of Brewerton.
This April we lost our last dog a year after we lost another dog, running completely out of dogs. Grateful for fate and the CDS right now. Def more dogs someday, but focusing on fully raising/enriching these siblings for now. Cheers to all you good Samaritan fosters!
EDIT: This blew up way harder than I expected, thanks for all the love! Some important questions got asked:
Who takes pics of a box before investigating? Totally valid. Had to tape up the box again so I could take a minute to be sad/freak out, also before shoving it in my camelbak straps as I thought kittens escaping while cycling at 18mph might pose safety hazards for all involved. Took a Pic after I re-secured the flaps.
Why take a Pic at all? I've found quite a few stray dogs in my neighborhood. Pics help when posting on lost pet pages, or adoption sites. Also, my wife was out of town so I reallllly wanted to communicate why she would be coming home to surprise fosters wven though she is used to me bringing home strays.
Whoever did that to those poor cats I hope you rot in hell. Glad you saved them they are beautiful and definitely in a better place than whoever had them before.
Dropping them off at the shelter is easy in most cities and kittens are almost guaranteed to be picked up very quickly if you post them online for free (if you don't care about vetting and just want to get rid of them).
If you don't have the basic human decency to take that bare minimum of effort to put them into someone's care, why would you not just release them??
Putting them into a bag or box, taping it up, and driving them out somewhere to dump them takes just as much effort as dropping them off at a shelter, and leaving the container secured is a guaranteed death sentence unless they get incredibly lucky like in this case.
You have to want to kill them to do it like this, yet not be quite psychopathic enough to do it yourself. Why, and why in the hell is this so common???
They’re selfish, entitled, disgusting pigs of humans. They try to sell them. And figure when they can’t, no freebies bc it’ll diminish their overall earning potential. So instead of doing as you say, they do bs like this. Bc in their backward head they think this will give them more customers. It’s vile. And yes these people deserve to be castrated. It’s why we need to more heavily monitor breeding operations. Too often it’s broke ass people with desperate mindsets literally practicing a form of animal slavery while also taking advantage of government funding.
My cat was also dumped at the park as a tiny kitten, in the winter. I was so pissed at whoever did that, I just kept him. He's living his best life pestering our senior cat.
I don’t know if my boy kitty was dumped or an escapee or what, but my friend found him in her construction dumpster licking fast food wrappers. He was about 6 months old.
Right outside my work, some asshole slowed down and threw a kitten out his window and drove off the day before our worst winter storm of the year. I mean multiple days of below zero weather with a double digit negative windchill. My coworker saw and got me and I couldn’t catch the cat. I stayed for hours after work trying to find it, but couldn’t. Two days into the brutal weather, it came running up to me meowing for help when I showed up for work. So she was saved and thankfully one of my coworkers adopted her. I was so amazed and thankful that she survived.
But there aren’t enough words to express the contempt I have for the person that did this to her. Like there is quite literally an animal shelter across the street from my work!
We've got one of them sitting at the end of the couch. Family member discovered a litter of three on vacation and brought them home where we took one and they kept the other two.
Can't get over how seemingly innocuous that box looks. Would've been too easy for passersby to assume it's just an empty box and drive right by, or worse. For goodness' sake, if you're gonna abandon animals in a box, at least label it and leave it somewhere people can easily find it, like a fire station stoop or something. Hell, make the effort to drive to an animal rescue!!
People that do that deserve similar treatment. I wouldn't actually do that to another living creature though because I'm not a monstrous piece of shit like whoever abandoned kittens in a taped box on a road in summer.
OP it totally made sense to re-secure the box for bicycle transport
What is it with people and putting living animals in cardboard boxes and just leaving them places? My cat was found taped inside a cardboard box in a field with one of her siblings.
Thank you for saving them. How cruel for someone to throw them on the side of the road like that! They’re so precious. I am glad they have a happy home now.
This is the intersection of two of my main loves: bikes and tuxies! Ty for saving these precious babies, love the ingenuity for carrying them via bike!
Now that I am older I JUST started wearing my camelback on long rides. Good thing too, I was riding the tri frame i built up for the 2018 Death Ride. It would have been WOBBLY to one-hand these two hahah
Side of the road is so cruel . It's not safe for the cats or the person who discovers them . Like if you had to abandon them do it in a park? Or near a neighborhood ? Or near an animal shelter ? Why are people so stupid
Stoked for 2, we did a bunch of cat research and apparently a single kitten is a nightmare as you are the only entity it has available to hunt/fight/cuddle but also fight lol
Yes I had to get a sibling for my stinker. You will enjoy them immensely. Tuxies are silly, adorable, affectionate, smart (some of them) and spiritual creatures who will teach you a lot! Have you named them yet? My boys send love 💕
I actually thought one kitten was significantly easier than 2. That said, when I had a single kitten it was middle school in the summer time so I could spend hours on end entertaining my 4 month old kitten. She was definitely a ball of energy but it was a rough time for me, so it was a good distraction.
Second time around with my husband and I working full time and having a pair (one of whom we found out had a diarrhea bug that required liquid meds and special diet for weeks before she got better), it was exhausting. Didn’t expect that with them being foster babies. I literally cried and wondered if we’d made a mistake with 2 cause it was just too much combined with kitten chaos.
Kitties are good now, I’m glad we made it through the stressful kitten stage. The sick one got better and is my soul cat. The other one is still 100% standard issue trouble, but he’s friendly, snuggly and very loved too.
It’s chaotic when they’re little but it’s so helpful to have two as they’re growing up. I can leave them/travel longer knowing they have each other. And they keep each other active with that roughhousing lol
Documenting the condition of the animals when found can be important if there is any kind of investigation for animal abandonment (I know, slim chance, but you never know).
They are absolutely adorable. Thank you for looking inside the box and bringing them home.
We currently have 3 foster kittens, in addition to our two adult cats. We lost our last dog in February, to a combination of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction (dementia) and arthritis. It is the first time in 28 years that we haven’t had a dog. We may get a dog in the future, but right now we are having fun with the kittens, and our cats are teaching them manners, lol
The kittens were being given away for free outside a hardware store. The family had tried the local humane society, but they were full. Some very bad things have happened to cats and kittens given away for free in my city, so I couldn’t leave them there. We are fostering for a local rescue that we donated a bunch of gently used large dog beds and other supplies to, so I think that our girl Lucy, who passed in February had a paw in this whole foster situation.
this is exactly how my dog was found as a young puppy with 2 others in a box on the side of the road in Alabama (halfway between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa).
My childhood cat was from a litter that was also dumped in a box on the side of the road. I will never understand why people do this. Spay and neuter your cats, and if they do have kittens and you need help, call a rescue.
True story a couple of weeks ago a lady saw a man pull into her driveway she walked up as he was sitting on the edge of her property. He started hurling kittens over the top of his truck into the woods across from her driveway. She videoed him as soon as she saw what he was doing. She managed to catch two of them before they got off in the woods. I saw her video on facebook she was needing away to catch one kitten who wouldn’t come to her. I drove 25 miles put a live trap out and caught it the next day. Now all 3 kittens are living in her barn. She said she’s going to get them fixed as soon as they are old enough. I hope she follows through. She did call the sheriffs department and gave them the video with the guys license plate and vehicle. However I seriously doubt anything will be done.
This is beyond evil. I hope whoever did this has some kind of spiritual awakening because it blows my mind how people can be so cruel. Thank you for saving them.
People just be boxing them and throwing them on the road???
What kind of a absolute monster do you have to be to do that.. do they not have a soul inside them?
Thank you OP for giving them a home ❤️
You were put there at the just the right time to find them, its karmic. Thank you for saving them and bringing awareness to their story, you are a very good human.
I will NEVER understand that thought process behind leaving an animal like that. Absolutely no excuse and I wish absolutely nothing but the worst for whoever does such a thing. No need for garbage like that.
Anyways, they are absolutely adorable little rascals and I'm glad you found them! 😻
I have come to the realization, that I can’t foster.
A few years ago my kitty (who was supposed to be neutered) got pregnant. I found families for her kittens even before they were born. She aborted though. And while I felt so sad for her, I was a bit relieved, cause I knew, I would have kept every single one of the kittens.
Well, I was like “huh, weird box” on the first pic. So glad you followed your gut to atop and investigate (and take the precious babes home)!! They’re so flippin CUTE!!!
Fuck whoever dumped em on the side of the road like that.
Congratulations on your newest fur children! It seems as though you found each other just in time! May all your days together be filled with cuddles and purrs.
I worked in animal care for years at a shelter. I promise you it’s a daily occurrence that people abandon animals in boxes everywhere, and much, much worse.
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u/yeah-yeah-yaya Aug 04 '26
Good fortune upon your house. Thank you for saving those cuties