Owners fear for health of three stolen kittens (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Owners fear for health of three stolen kittens

CALLOUS thieves have left a 12-year-old girl heartbroken after stealing three new-born kittens from her Honeybourne home.

Elsa Smith of Hudson Close says she is devastated by the theft of the kittens, which are barely three weeks old and her dad Herbert is calling for the thieves to return the animals as soon as possible.

"We just want them back," he said. "We're so unhappy and so is Ginger, she's the mother of the kittens."

He added: "We didn't even have a chance to name them or look at them properly to see whether they were male or female."

The ginger and white kittens were with Ginger when they were taken from a Wendy House outside the property on Friday, May 19 between 10.30am and 3.30pm.

"We didn't put her in the Wendy House," added Herbert. "She started sitting in there and the next we knew the kittens were there so we left them as they were warm and dry. We love animals in this house and we just want to see them returned safely to us.

"Ginger is pining and crying for them, she looks for them as she doesn't understand where they've gone. The kittens are so young they need her."

He added: "On the day they were taken I fed Ginger a bowl of food and some milk and then went out to Worcester. When I came back they were gone."

Judith Haw, RSPCA spokeswoman for the Worcestershire region, has also appealed for their safe return. "It's not good for the kittens to be away from their mother so early on, they will be extremely stressed and so will the mother. It's at least six weeks before kittens are strong enough to survive without their mother," she said.

"I urge whoever took the kittens to return them, even if they do it at night because they are worried about getting into trouble, in the interest of the kittens' survival, just return them. Or another solution would be to take them to a vet where they will be cared for properly and have a chance of being reunited with their mother."

In another case this week, two guinea pigs were taken from their cages at an address on St John's Close in Evesham.

The guinea pigs, which were both kept in cages in the garden in view of the house, were taken between 5pm on Sunday, May 21 and 4pm on Monday, May 22.

The owner discovered they were missing on finding their cages open and thrown about the garden.

Witnesses who may have seen or heard anything suspicious at the time of either disappearance, or if anyone is offered kittens or guinea pigs or knows the whereabouts of any of the animals are asked to contact the police on 08457 444888.