BRUNSWICK – The Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick has taken in three adult cats and 10 kittens that were found abandoned and left in a covered plastic storage container sealed with duct tape in Freeport.

Jane Siviski, marketing and development coordinator for the shelter, said Friday that the 13 cats were found Wednesday by Freeport resident Laura Baumli near a gravel pit on Gray Road.

Additional Photos

These kittens are among those found in a tote.

Laura Baumli of Freeport found the tote full of cats and kittens while walking her dog.

This tote found in Freeport held 13 abandoned cats. Courtesy Coastal Humane Society

This is a family of 5-week-old kittens and their mother found abandoned in a plastic tote in Freeport. Courtesy Coastal Humane Society

“She was walking her dog near a gravel pit in Freeport. She was walking with her daughter and found a tote and peeked inside,” Siviski said. “She initially took them home, put them in her bathroom and gave them food and water.”

Siviski said the three adult cats all appear to be recent mothers, who show signs of having nursed the kittens. A shelter worker determined after Baumli dropped them off Thursday that the kittens were from three different litters, one group about 3 weeks old, another group about 5 weeks old and the oldest kittens about 7 weeks old, she said.

“They actually appear to be in pretty good condition,” she said. “The cats seem happy and friendly.”

The lid to the plastic container in which they were found didn’t fit correctly, allowing some air flow. Shelter workers believe they had been abandoned about a day before they were found.

The kittens are too young to be adopted now, but all the cats will be adoptable after spending some time in foster care. All of them were to be placed by the end of the day Friday in their temporary homes, she said.

“We weren’t sure which kittens belonged with which mother,” Siviski said.

But over time, they observed which kittens were nursing from which adult cat, and noticed the 7-week-old kittens have already stopped nursing.

The three adult cats are black and white, as are most of the kittens. There are some brown and gray tiger colored kittens also.

“They are just really friendly, adorable, roly-poly, lovable kittens,” she said.

The Coastal Humane Society is located at 190 Pleasant St., Brunswick, and can be contacted by telephone at (207) 725-5051 or email at info@coastalhumanesociety.org. For more information, see the society’s website at www.coastalhumanesociety.org.

The shelter takes in about 2,500 animals per year and typically has about 10 dogs and between 25 and 30 cats, though the number of cats tends to rise in the summer during “kitten season,” Siviski said.

Though the recently found kittens have foster homes, the shelter is always looking for more foster families, she said.

Scott Dolan can be contacted at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@mainetoday.com

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