United Kingdom: Susan Maude, 62, charged with animal cruelty after zipping kittens into laundry bag and dumping them to die

UNITED KINGDOM -- These are the five kittens left abandoned in a zipped up laundry bag full of eight cats that were callously abandoned by their owner just minutes from her home.

CCTV cameras recorded Susan Maude, leaving her former home in Tranmere, Merseyside, at just after midnight on August 6 carrying the bag.

At 12.41am, Maude, 62, was caught on camera again returning to the address without the bag, which was later discovered abandoned by nearby wheelie bins.

Inside were five kittens and three adult cats Polly, Dolly and Dylan, which she left cramped and defenceless in the middle of the night, Wirral magistrates heard.

Maude, who now lives in Normanton, Yorkshire, was charged with failing to ensure a suitable environment for the kittens and a dog named Rusty, who she let loose and left to fend for himself.

She was also charged with failing to protect them from pain, suffering, injury or disease by dumping the cats and abandoning the dog.

Cameras recorded Susan Maude, leaving her former home in Tranmere,
Merseyside, at just after midnight on August 6 carrying the bag

  

At 12.41am, Maude, 62, was caught on camera again returning to the address
 without the bag, which was later discovered abandoned by nearby wheelie bins

A warrant was issued for her arrest after she did not attend court and was found guilty in her absence.
Wirral RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes said CCTV cameras owned by people in the street were crucial to the case - and thanked members of the public for raising the alarm.

He said: 'A member of the public rang a cat rescue charity and asked them to come out and collect an animal. When they got there they discovered a cat popping its head out of a bag and found there were three adult cats and five kittens inside.

'They were dumped in a place where they were unlikely to be found - a car park next to some wheelie bins - in the middle of the night and in my opinion it was like they were left with the trash. She has then moved 100 miles away without a care in the world for them.'

Inspector Joynes added: 'We're very lucky that we didn't end up with a bag full of dead cats. It was a hot August day and they weren't found until early afternoon. They must have been scared and stressed but luckily they've come into the RSPCA's care and they now have new homes.

'We're also lucky that members of the public who live in the street have their own security cameras and I've got to thank them.'

(Daily Mail - March 3, 2016)