By RTL News/Australian Press Association··an average:
from right to left
Flemish police say they are taking another step forward in tracking down a dump truck containing four kittens. DNA samples have been taken from the newborn creatures to track down the person who left them alive in a dumpster earlier this month. It will be the first time that the owner of abandoned kittens has been traced back to DNA.
The Flemish government's animal welfare service carried out the DNA test. The police had previously identified other animal abuses in the vicinity. The police are now awaiting the results of the DNA test.
fine
The perpetrator faces a prison sentence and a large fine. “The judge will decide, but I hope the perpetrator gets a lifelong ban from keeping animals,” the police commissioner told Flemish broadcaster VRT. “We may have become a society that tends to be careless, but it would be very sad if we also started throwing live animals in the trash.”
The kittens were spotted by a woman on July 13 while waiting for a bus at the Limburg station in Belgium. They were collected by the cat shelter VZW Poezenpootjes Geetbets, which speaks of the “cowardly act of the man”. The kittens are said to be doing well now. They have been placed in an incubator and are being fed by humans using a pipette.
Since 2014, sterilization of cats has been mandatory in Flanders. Since 2018, this must be done before the kittens are five months old. However, many kittens are still born and then euthanized.
