Authorities in Southbury are asking the public for information after a newborn kitten was abandoned on the side of the road over the weekend.
Animal control officials said Saturday that the kitten was found in a cardboard box on High Meadow Drive.
Images posted to Facebook appear to show that the kitten — who authorities described as "orange and white and only a few days old" — was abandoned with a towel and two metal bowls. The photos also indicate that the cardboard box was previously used to house an electric power washer.
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Anyone with information pertaining to the abandoned kitten is asked to call Southbury Animal Control at (203) 262-0613 or Southbury police at (203) 264-5912.
The incident in Southbury is far from a one-off, though. In May, a German Shepherd was found tied to a tree at a Southbury horse farm.
And more broadly, the incident is emblematic of a disturbing pattern of roadside animal abandonments across the state this summer.
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In July alone, at least six dogs were found abandoned on Connecticut roads.
In Canton, for example, a 1-year-old terrier was hit by a car after being left in the woods along Route 44. In Manchester, two dogs were found tied to a pole in the pouring rain. In Branford, two dogs were found abandoned in the span of a week. And in Bridgeport, authorities had to euthanize an abandoned dog that had suffered "prolonged neglect and cruelty."
Likewise, in Hamden, two cats were dumped in a cemetery. And in Naugatuck, two kittens were found dead after being thrown from a moving vehicle.
