Charity shop lets the cats out of the bag of donations

Two terrified cats were dumped inside a black bin bag and donated to Capability's Stockbridge branch, where they lay undiscovered for two days.

Sisters Whiskers and Paws - named by staff at Lothian Cat Rescue (LCR) near Bonnyrigg where they are now being cared for - were found by shop manager Sean O'Brien, who believed the bag was filled with the usual donations of bric-a-brac or clothes.

When Mr O'Brien, 46, looked inside the bag, which was handed to assistant manager Margot Anderson by a middle-aged woman on a busy Saturday afternoon last month, he was shocked to find two cats peering back at him from inside a cat carrier.

Mr O'Brien said: "I have worked for the charity for 16 years and I have never seen anything like this. Initially I thought they had been sedated, as they didn't make a sound.

"The poor things were so petrified they couldn't eat anything, but they didn't mind being handled, were very friendly and lovely to look at.

"A lady had come in off the street and handed in a large bag, and just said 'that's a donation for you', and went away.

"She didn't say what it was or anything; she didn't say there was a couple of cats in there - she just disappeared.

"The assistant manager put them into the hallway, off the shop floor because it was busy.

"It was only when I came in on the Monday at about half 12 when I went to sort out what was in the bag. You can imagine the fright I got when I saw two cats staring back at me."

Mr O'Brien contacted another Capability volunteer, Diana Caryl - who works at the Morningside shop and also helps out at LCR - and the cats were taken to the LCR shelter.

LCR's Jacci Edwards said: "We want to make people aware there's no need to treat animals like that - just give us a call and we will come and help you."

She added: "Apart from being scared, they're very healthy.

"That lady must have thought the cats would be discovered straight away but sometimes the bags of stuff can be left for a week before they are looked through, so they have had a lucky escape."

Paws, who is grey and white, and Whiskers, who has black fur, have now been checked over and spayed by the LCR vets. Aged between two and three, they will have to be rehomed together as they "adore each other".

Mr O'Brien said: "I would like this woman to be identified because I think it's a very stupid thing to do. The delivery of stock we got on the Monday could have been put on top of them and might've suffocated them, or they could have died of starvation.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't a mistake - you can't get rid of two cats by accident."

The woman who donated the cats is thought to be in her 40s. There was no cat food inside the bag but there was a blanket.

Mr O'Brien added: "We get some strange things donated but never live animals until now."