For at least two kittens in Iowa, dog is cat's best friend. About 3 months ago, a litter of kittens only weeks old, was put into a bag, sealed inside, and thrown onto a road. Cars ran over the bag until a yellow lab called Reagan discovered it. He dragged the bag with the kittens inside to his home where he made a fuss until his owner opened it. She said she could hear the kittens' cries inside, but could never have known or anticipated what she found. She pulled two living kittens from the bag, covered in the blood and guts of their litter mates who had been crushed by traffic.
This kind of animal cruelty is extreme, but unfortunately not uncommon, according to the animal sanctuary where the kittens were brought. Whether people are desperate because of the economy or some other reason, animals are being left to suffer and die more often. These kittens had no chance- they were too young to survive on their own and the bag was sealed shut to prevent escape. Whoever did this wanted the kittens to die. If the cars hadn't run them over, crushing 2 or 3 of them (it was hard to tell just how many kittens were originally in the bag), they would have either starved or suffocated to death, taking days to slowly die. It's a miracle the two kittens survived the road, but even once they were rescued by Reagan they weren't expected to make it. It's amazing that 3 months later the kittens are perfectly healthy and ready to be adopted.
Desperation is something that I understand as a human being. I've made bad decisions before when I was desperate (you'll try just about anything to dry a laptop after spilling a full glass of water on it), but I could never imagine doing something so awful to a living thing. Ignoring, for the sake of argument and my faith in humanity, that these kittens were victims of deliberate animal abuse, if you wanted your unplanned or unexpected litter of kittens to die or not be your responsibility anymore there are a bunch of ways to go about remedying the situation without such blatant cruelty. Iowa has animal shelters just like every other state and all you have to do is drop them off. Most shelters and pounds have night drop areas in case you're too proud or embarrassed to show your face as you surrender the kittens (or you could just say you found them), or you could drop them off in a box even in the parking lot where a worker would surely discover them.
Worst case scenario? The kittens are kept warm and fed a little food until they die on their own or are euthanized. Best case scenario is they thrive and are adopted by someone who does want them. Dropping an animal off at a shelter (or a pet store or a sheriff department or anywhere other than a road) is no cost to you and you're not depriving the animal of any chance it could have. And if you just wanted them dead for whatever reason there are much faster and more humane ways to go about killing a kitten. Did the person who did this think that they'd be dead in one fell swoop of an unsuspecting tire? Did sealing them in the bag make for easy clean-up later? Less guilt for whoever would drive over the bag?
It's depressing that a dog, who although we love and esteem and value we still consider beneath us mighty humans, rescued kittens that a person wanted to kill in such a barbaric manner. No one has to resort to animal cruelty: there are better options, even for the same end goal. I'm glad it worked out for these two lucky cats and I certainly hope they're allowed to live happy, healthy lives with someone who won't leave them.
