9 kittens saved from shipping crate in Volusia County

When Karen Morgan saw a man approaching the Southeast Volusia Humane Society with a shipping container in hand it immediately caught her attention; then the head of a 5 week-old kitten popped out and her team went into rescue mode.

Morgan said the strange delivery happened on Tuesday. When she and her volunteers rushed outside at the New Smyrna Beach building Morgan said she opened the gray plastic container to find 9 tuxedo kittens overheating inside.

According to the Humane Society the man had claimed to have found the kittens, but staff believe they were in the box for up to an hour on a day with a 100 degree heat index and no ventilation.

Morgan said the kittens were in bad shape; she thinks some were mere minutes from dying.

"Some of them were laying so still on their side I was afraid we were going to lose them,” said Morgan, director of the Southeast Volusia Humane Society.

Her staff immediately started hydrating the kittens and wrapping them in wet towels to try to save them.
Luckily, their efforts paid off. All nine kittens survived and bounced back quickly from the ordeal. By Friday they were running and playing happily at their foster home in Port Orange.

"I knew I didn't want to split them up so I took all of them together,” said foster mom Jan Wenger.

Morgan said the kittens are even back on track to get their shots in the coming week and possibly be ready for adoption a short time later. Since the “Tuxedo 9’s” story hit social media, she said a line of potential adopters quickly started calling.

Morgan said the man who dropped the kittens off willingly surrendered them without issue; besides the dangerous method of transport. She said staff reported the incident to police, but are really only focusing on the kittens’ recovery and future.

The Southeast Volusia Humane Society was already over full capacity when the kittens showed up, but Morgan said they wouldn’t dream of not helping them.

Inquiries about adopting the kittens can be made to the Southeast Volusia Humane Society at 386-428-9860.