Another kitten dumped in wheelie bin

An animal charity which came to the aid of a kitten found trapped in a wheelie bin said today the "waste of space" who did it must have been copying an infamous incident caught on CCTV.

Five-month-old Smokie was found by workers at a recycling centre in Hull last week after they heard him crying in one of the bins.

The staff pulled him out and contacted Hessle Dog Rescue, where secretary Valeri Wakeham took him to a vet for a check.

Ms Wakeham said she is convinced the incident is a copy of one which received worldwide attention when a woman was caught on camera dumping a cat in a wheelie bin in Coventry.

Yesterday, bank worker Mary Bale, 45, was charged with causing unnecessary suffering to that animal and is due in court next month.

Ms Wakeham said she was furious about what happened to Smokie.

She said: "What this waste of space, whoever she or he is, did was disgusting.

"I don't know what we've come to. We live in a throwaway society and it just upsets me so much."

She added: "If that lady hadn't been caught on camera, these dozy pillocks would probably have never had the idea.

"You can bet your next pay cheque that's what they did.

"I'd just like to do the same to them. They need shooting."

Smokie's owners Philip and Susan Hirons, from east Hull, were overjoyed to get their kitten back but could not believe what happened to him.

Mrs Hirons told the Hull Daily Mail: "Whoever did this to our kitten must be sick.

"How did they sleep, knowing he was hungry, cold, frightened and about to go into the landfill site and get buried alive?"

Mr Hirons said: "I wonder if people are copying that woman who threw a cat in a wheelie bin."

The couple said they had been worried when Smokie went missing.

They said they were only found because the kitten had been micro-chipped and the vet traced them through this.

Mrs and Mrs Hirons said Smokie was well but a little more jumpy than he was before.