KATY MAGAZINE NEWS
July 7, 2018
Natalie Cook Clark
Deputy Debra Albert and the kittens.
"The bag is moving," a Katy resident told the dispatcher for Harris County's Precinct 5's office when they called about an abandoned bag. Deputy Debra Albert and Deputy Diego Loucel arrived to investigate the red cloth bag in the West Memorial neighborhood around 3 a.m. Tuesday morning.
"West Memorial is Loucel's area but I've had experience with these calls and was afraid we'd find an animal," said Deputy Albert. "As soon as we got out of the car I could hear the meowing."
"I shined my flashlight into the bag and saw two eyes looking back at me. It was a kitten," recalls Deputy Loucel. "Then when we looked further we found three little kittens."
Albert and Loucel took the kittens back to a substation where they got food, water and lots of attention. "Once we got some food in the kittens it didn't take long to see a 180 change in them. They went from just laying around, probably malnourished, to happy and active kittens," said Loucel.
"We called the SPCA and they came to look at them. The estimated them around 2 months old but couldn't take the kittens in," said Albert. "We looked after them and played with them until an Animal Crimes deputy took them to a veterinarian."
The kittens were all very emaciated but expected to be ok. They were taken to the Harris County Animal Shelter at 612 Canino Rd. The kittens were put on a required 3 day hold to see if the owner claims them. Having happened earlier in the week the kittens are now up for adoption. You can visit the shelter or call to inquire at 281-999-3191.
What would you do?
Dumping an animal is a crime. It is animal cruelty, which depending on the offense can be a felony. You can report animal cruelty through the Harris County Animal Cruelty Taskforce. Call 832-927-PAWS or visit their website.
If you see someone dumping an animal call your local precinct but also try and get some information. What does the person look like? What is the license plate number? What does the car look like? Of course, you safety is the priority but if you can safely get information to give the authorities that is helpful.
If you need to re-home an animal there are other alternatives to dumping them. Here are just some rescue/shelters in the Katy area.
Katy City Animal Control
25839 I-10, Katy, TX 77494
281-391-4740
Citizens for Animal Protection
17555 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77094
281-497-0591
Special Pals
3830 Greenhouse Rd, Houston, TX 77084
281- 579-7387
"I just couldn't believe someone had taken the time to put these three little kittens in a gym bag, drive them to a neighborhood and dump them in the middle of the medium," said Loucel. "I wish they would have given them a chance." I'm going to continue to follow the kittens' story. While they are on their way towards a happily ever after this story could have ended very differently.