Cats and kittens abandoned in plastic containers on side of Alberta highway

Update Nov. 24:The man who said he found the five cats and 10 kittens on the side a highway recanted his statementand now says he'd actually rescued the animals from a neglectfulrelative. Read the latest on this story here:

• Owner's relative falsely reported cats as abandoned on side of Alberta highway

The original story appears below.

Animal rescue groups are looking to track down the owners of five cats and 10 kittens that were found on the side of a central Alberta highway this week.

The felines were rescued from plastic containers sealed with duct tape.

The two containers, which had air holes punctured in the plastic, were discovered by a passerby along the stretch of Highway 11 east of Red Deer between Stettler and Erskine, by the railroad tracks.

Saving Grace Animal Society rescued the animals andtransferred them to the care of theAlberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) in Calgary.

According to a Facebook post by Saving Grace, the kittens were sitting in an inch of feces and urine when they were rescued.

Deanna Thompson, executive director for AARCS, said the animals are doing OK and the kittens are being treated for some respiratory illnesses.

"The adults actually look very healthy. They seem like they were someone's pet at some point. They're not underweight. They're very friendly," she said.

Thompson said they aren't sure exactly how long the cats were in the containers, but a note was sent to the organization saying someone in the area noticed those containers in the ditch on Mondaybut didn't take a closer look.

"We hear often of animals being abandoned,let loose on the side of the road, that sort of thing. Butfor someone to go to the extent of putting them in containers and then dropping them on the side of the road, we've never seen anything like this before," Thompson said.

"There are alot of other options out there for rehoming cats other than dumping them like garbage."

Thompson said the cats will be held until they can determine whether or not the cats are owned by someone, then they will likely go up for adoption.

The Alberta SPCAis investigating.

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