LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — A cat rescue agency in Luzerne County says it's dealing with a "worse than usual" kitten season, not because of the number of kittens but because of the cruelty some of these animals are facing.
"It's disgusting. It's just no excuse. It's just like I have no words sometimes, you know? You think you've seen it all until somebody comes along and proves you're wrong," said Maryjo Engleman with Rescue Warriors Cat Rescue.
Engleman has seen sights such as kittens being thrown from moving vehicles in bags or boxes, left to fend for themselves in traffic.
"There's always a few, and a kitten season where a kitten is thrown out of a moving vehicle onto a bridge or onto a highway, not like this. There's always animal abandonment," Michelle Demich said. "People will do things with cats that they would never do with dogs. And it's mind-blowing. It really is, but this particular year it's out of control."
A kitten was found on the Pierce Street Bridge between Kingston and Wilkes-Barre. He's safe now, just a little scraped up. Others have been found on bridges and along highways throughout the valley in the last week.
"Almost all of these kittens except for one are black. They all appear to be about the same size, the same age. They all look very similar. The assumption seems to be at this point that the same person is throwing kittens out from a litter or have multiple litters of black kittens that they're throwing kittens away."
Rescuers tell Newswatch 16 they saw one of these kittens being thrown from a moving vehicle in plains township. They also tell us that these cats are not feral. These kittens are very sociable.
Rescue workers have tried contacting police but can't get far without video evidence. They're hoping to spread awareness, so maybe someone will come forward with dashcam or doorbell video to help stop whoever is doing this.