Police In N.J. Out To Solve Year-Old Kitten Caper
METUCHEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police say they are searching for a woman who keeps dumping kittens outside a supermarket.
As CBS2's Ali Bauman reported Thursday, it has happened not once, but at least four times.
They're cuddly and cute, but above all healthy and safe. It's hard to believe the two kittens were put in harm's way on Tuesday morning, left all alone in front of a Metuchen Whole Foods.
"The cats could have been there hungry, starving, dying, so it doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem kind, either," said Denise Williams of Piscataway.
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Police told Bauman a woman keeps abandoning kittens in front of the Middlesex Avenue grocery store. The latest incident involved two 8-week-old kittens, which were discovered in onions bags with a note attached that reads, "Please take free baby cat to your home."
"We have to be kind to each other. It's just so sad. I can't believe anyone can do that," said Zhaleh Elwalay of Metuchen.
"They're living. That's terrible. You can't leave things to die," added Danielle Newman of Colonia. "Post them for adoption or give them to somebody who wants them, somebody who can take care of them."
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Authorities believe the woman has done this at least four times in the last year. On Thursday morning, four kittens were left inside a plastic bin outside the ShopRite in Edison. Animal shelter officials are still trying to figure out if it was the same woman who left them or a copycat.
"I'm assuming they do it at a grocery store because they feel it's a public place and people think 'Oh, free kittens,'" said Amy Ray, manager of the Edison Municipal Animal Shelter.
Ray, however, said that's the worst thing someone could do.
"She isn't following protocol. If you need to surrender an animal, you have to call the shelter. We can make an appointment. You can surrender them. You can call rescues," Ray said.
Ray also said she thinks the woman has multiple cats at home that aren't spayed or neutered.
"So they keep procreating and she's having more and more babies and not knowing what to do with them," Ray said.
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Police are currently working on pulling and reviewing video surveillance to catch the woman.
Shelter employees said every time the woman has dumped the kittens in the past they got lucky because they were found and adopted quickly.
The two new ones should go up for adoption next week.
