Don’t drive over packets on roads, says Durban animal rescue organisation

HILLSIDE Haven, a local animal sanctuary, has issued a warning to drivers not to drive over plastic bags on the road.

Hillside Haven’s Dr Taryn Turner said although the organisation’s focus is now solely on disabled animals, when the organisation used to rescue kittens it would get two or three litters a year that had been discarded on roadsides or thrown out with the rubbish during kitten season.

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“Kitten season starts in spring, from September when the weather starts to warm up. We see kittens thrown from cars, placed in boxes on the side of the road or simply tied up in plastic packets and placed on top of the black bags for collection with the refuse. I’ve had a jogger turn back when he noticed a packet rustling only to discover a litter of newborn kittens with their umbilical cords still attached. They were cold and dehydrated, and would not have survived had he not brought them to me,” she said.

Turner said she is advising people to avoid driving over boxes or packets if it’s safe to do so, and to get out of the car to investigate if it doesn’t put the driver in danger.

“You could be saving a life,” she said.  

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