'They would have died': Newborn kittens miraculously rescued from the trash in NYC

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (PIX11) -- Cats have nine lives, according to lore, but if it weren't for the quick action of a good Samaritan and the hard work of a cat rescue and shelter organization, four newborn kittens would have missed out on their nine lives just days after their first one had begun. 

The quartet of gray and tortoiseshell kittens, named Maya, Blender, Unity and Unreal, were left to die in a trash can near 45th Street and 9th Avenue in Sunset Park last Sunday. 

Their cries for help, in the form of loud meowing, saved their lives. 

"They can make an ungodly sound," said Anne Levin, the executive director of the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, as she fed the rescued two-week-old kittens at her organization's cat café and shelter on Friday. "[When] their needs aren't getting met," she continued, "they get louder and louder. It's like an ear-piercing thing."

She said that the intense sound from the five-inch-long soft, furry creatures, caught their savior's ear. 

The good Samaritan opened up the garbage can from which the sound was coming, and found a noisy mass inside double-bagged trash bags that were tied up. He opened the bags and found the kittens. Some of them did not move. The good Samaritan called his friends at the cat café, and they took the kittens in. 

They immediately fed them a special milk formula for newborn felines, and the newborns showed that they were very much alive. They drank up intensely and incessantly. 

If they'd stayed in the trash much longer, said Levin, "They would have suffocated, or they would've been crushed by the trash [truck], or they would have starved."

Levin said that, sadly, this was by no means the first case of a thrown away new litter. She said that any number of reasons could cause someone to abuse defenseless animals like this. It could be shortcomings in drop-off protocols in animal shelters across the city, or emotional issues in the lives and homes of some people who have cats, among other possible causes. 

In any case, said the animal shelter executive director, the public can help to improve the lives of young cats and other creatures.

"If you see an animal in a situation that seems unsafe," Levin said, "reach out. Try and do something."

She pointed out that her organization can always help. The Brooklyn Cat Cafe is reachable through its website, which includes information on adopting the dozens of cats cared for at the café. 

Almost all of them are available for adoption immediately. That's not the case, however, for the four new arrivals. They first need to mature to an adoptable age. 

Once that happens, said Levin, "When they get adopted in a few months, they're going to make some family so happy."