Kitty thrown in Delco trash rescued

Animal investigators in Delaware County are trying to determine who threw a three-week-old kitten in the trash.

A sanitation worker who was picking up trash on a residential street in Upper Darby on Monday realized something was moving in a sealed trash bag after he dumped it into his truck.

"The trash worker saw the bag moving. He took it upon himself to open the bag," Justina Calgiano, spokeswoman for the Providence Animal Center in Media, said Wednesday.

Inside, he found a hungry, calico kitten about three to four weeks old, Calgiano said.

The sanitation worker was "extremely distraught," she said. "He couldn't understand why someone would do that."

Upper Darby's Animal Control was then contacted, and the kitten was brought to the All Pets Veterinary Hospital in Drexel Hill, whose staff cared for her, Calgiano said.

Providence Animal Center was also contacted by Animal Control to investigate and took the kitten into its care Tuesday night, Calgiano said.

The center, formerly the Delaware County SPCA, has one humane officer who investigates cases of animal cruelty, neglect or abandonment in Delaware County.

The kitten was named by the Providence Animal Center as Grundgetta - after Oscar the Grouch's girlfriend on Sesame Street.

"She is extremely sweet," said Calgiano, who said animal workers don't believe that she is feral.

"Normally, if the cat was born to the wild, it would not be used to human touch," she said. "She is so used to human affection. She opens up her belly. She is the sweetest thing."

It's possible a female cat got pregnant and the owner didn't want the kittens, Calgiano said.

Providence Animal Center's Humane Officer Ron Riggle is expected to speak to the sanitation worker and to question people on the street where the kitten was found, Calgiano said.

She declined to say exactly where the kitten was found.

Grundgetta needs to be fed now by a syringe or bottle, she said. A foster family will be sought to take care of her.

Grundgetta did not have any injuries, but had some paint blotches on her.

Michele Taylor, office manager at All Pets Vet in Drexel Hill, said the kitten wasn't eating when she was brought there Monday afternoon. A technician gave her a bath, and veterinarian Kimberly Bowers took the kitten home with her Monday night. Bowers fed her at home with a syringe, then the kitten started eating, Taylor said.

Calgiano urged anyone who needs help taking care of animals to contact an animal welfare group.

If anyone has any information on who put Grundgetta in the trash, contact Riggle at the Providence Animal Center at 610-566-1370 x214 or email: rriggle@providenceac.org.

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