Four newborn kittens have been dumped in a McDonald’s bag inside the fast-food chain’s Ulverstone restaurant.
On Friday a McDonald’s staff member found the bag of kittens, no more than two days old, on a dining table.
Just Cats Tasmania founder Rachel Beech described the dumping as the “worst case we’ve ever had”.
The kittens were taken to the Ulverstone Vet before they were handed to a Just Cats Tasmania foster carer Caroline Dare in Devonport.
Ms Beech said the kittens were in good condition with the umbilical cord still attached.
She said there was concern for the kittens’ mother and said it was likely her milk supply was not being used – which could result in the cat becoming pregnant again in eight weeks.
While the RSPCA Tasmania investigates the case, Ms Beech was outraged with the way the kittens had been dumped.
“To place them inside a McDonald’s bag and leave it on the dining table – somebody else might have thrown them out or the bag could have been crumpled and the kittens squashed,” she said.
“There’s so many alternative ways to get rid of your kittens rather than dumping them in a public place.”
She said the most simple and effective solution to stopping unwanted breeding was to have cats desexed.
“Just one cat, not desexed, can produce 700 kittens in three years,” she said.
“Her kittens, many of those a female, then go onto have kittens and so forth.”
The dumping comes in a year where Just Cats Tasmania has been “inundated” with unwanted kittens.
With discounted desexing available from the RSPCA and Just Cats, Ms Beech said the onus fell to owners.
She described the positive take-up of desexing in 2015 as people jumping “on the bandwagon” but said it had “lapsed” in 2017.
Ms Beech said anyone who had unwanted kittens or cats should surrender them humanely to a vet or Just Cats Tasmania. ”We don’t prejudge,” she said.
The RSPCA is investigating the case of the dumped kittens and reviewing restaurant CCTV.
