Twenty-six cats and kittens were found abandoned in Birmingham on Wednesday 30 September after a member of the public spotted them at 1pm on Hawthorn Road and called the RSPCA. Some had been shut in sealed plastic boxes, and the rescue turned into a race to get them out before their condition got worse.
The finder moved most of the cats into carriers before help arrived, and two of the animals, Mauve and Mr Gold, were taken to Birmingham Animal Hospital for treatment. Mauve was four weeks old and Mr Gold was one year old. Both were being monitored for cat flu after arriving with a heavy flea burden, anemia and dehydration. The other 24 cats and kittens were recovering in RSPCA care and will be rehomed when ready.
What made the discovery so stark was not just the number of animals but the state they were in. Many were lethargic and appeared to be struggling to breathe inside the boxes, and all were underweight and badly infested with fleas. Paul Nijjar said the scene was distressing and described it as a cruel way to treat defenceless cats and kittens. He thanked the person who found them and got them help as quickly as possible.
The cats were found between a bakery and a shop on a busy street in the middle of the day, yet no suspect has been identified. That gap is now at the center of the inquiry, with RSPCA officers reviewing CCTV footage from the area and asking anyone with information to call the appeals line on 0300 123 8018, quoting incident number 01915832. The RSPCA said mass cat incidents are cases involving 10 or more cats in one property, and the latest rescue lands in the middle of a wider surge that has stretched its resources across England and Wales.
The numbers show why the charity is treating these cases as more than one-off rescues. It said it dealt with 1,752 mass cat incidents last year, up from 1,045 in 2024 and 613 in 2021, while around 20,000 cats were taken into RSPCA care in 2025. Nijjar said neutering from four months of age can help curb the rise in unwanted pets, pointing out that kittens can become pregnant themselves as early as four months. For the 24 cats now waiting for homes, the next step is recovery first, then rehoming; for the person who left them there, the question is whether CCTV can fill the blank left on Hawthorn Road.
