It’s an annual rite of summer...Animal shelters are seeing an increase in cat drop offs. And right in the thick of an already busy season, the Saginaw County shelter has been inundated with more than 90 cats since June.
According to the Michigan Humane Society, many shelters across the state receive an influx of animals during the summer because it coincides with breeding seasons.
In Saginaw County, 96 cats were dropped off at the shelter over the past two months. Many of them kittens who were too young to survive on their own.
Animal Care and Control Director, Bonnie Kanicki, said people have been bringing in kittens they have found in boxes along roadways.
“People are concerned when they find these large quantities of young, baby kittens. They are bringing them in because they care. They are upset that someone would resort to dropping a box of kittens off to fend for themselves.”
Kanicki said out of the 96 cats that have been dropped off only 22 are available for adoption.
She said the remaining 74 cats require extra care, some of those are kittens that require round the clock care. She said many kittens have been sent to rescue partners to be bottle fed because they are so young.