10/28/2026
🥰🥰Update: Shout Out to PAWS for Rescuing. Thank You From the Bottom of Our Hearts🥰🥰
💔 A Difficult Evening at Animal Services 💔
Just when you think you’ve seen the worst, something happens that reminds you how much work we still have to do as a community.
Yesterday, four tiny kittens were found discarded in a dumpster inside a cardboard box. These babies are only about two weeks old, their eyes are barely opening, and they are still in need of nursing care. Their mother was not with them.
Let that sink in for a moment. Four helpless little lives, placed in a box and thrown away as if they meant nothing.
Our hearts are broken for these babies, and we are doing everything we can to keep them safe. Right now, they are in a portable cat carrier with a heating pad as we work to figure out our next steps. The heartbreaking reality is that, to make room for them, we have to make an heartbreaking decision involving one of the cats already in our care.
And that is the part people need to understand.
We have repeatedly shared that our shelter is out of space for cats. We have 22 kennels and more than 50 cats currently in our care. Every available space is occupied, and every animal here represents a life we are working hard to protect and a promise we are trying to keep.
Taking in four more kittens does not magically create four more spaces. It means making difficult decisions that affect other innocent animals who are already waiting for their chance at a home. That is not fair to them, either.
We want to help. We want to say yes. We want every animal to have somewhere safe to go. But wanting to help and having the resources to help every single animal, at every moment, are two very different things.
Please understand that an overwhelmed shelter is not an excuse for cruelty, abandonment, or putting an animal in danger.
We cannot justify these actions by saying the shelter is always full, that someone was told no, that an animal simply showed up, or that someone did not want to pay to have a pet spayed or neutered. We did not create the situations that comes through our doors, but we are the ones called upon to respond to the consequences. And we do our best every single day with the space, resources, and support we have.
When you encounter an unwanted animal, please choose compassion and responsibility. Call for guidance. Ask about resources. Reach out to rescues, veterinarians, and other available organizations. If you cannot keep an animal, there may be options we can help you explore. A difficult answer today does not mean there is no hope, and it never means an animal deserves to suffer. Sometimes, somebody may need to take care of an animal for a time to give us time to make room.
We also need to remember that right and wrong do not change simply because we are frustrated, inconvenienced, or told something we do not want to hear. We cannot allow disappointment to become justification for doing harm. The choices we make today help shape the kind of community, and the kind of world, the next generation will inherit.
We can do better. We must do better. And that begins with each of us choosing kindness, responsibility, and respect for life, even when things do not go our way.
This incident is under investigation, and we will do everything within our authority to hold the responsible person or persons accountable.
If you have any information regarding these kittens or the circumstances surrounding their abandonment, please contact Jones County Animal Services at 478-342-7848.
To everyone who continues to support our shelter, share our posts, donate supplies, foster, adopt, and advocate for these animals, thank you. You are a reminder that compassion still exists in this world, and you help us keep going on the days when the work feels especially heavy.
Please keep these four little babies in your thoughts. We do not know if they will pull through. It was in the 40's last night and we dont know how long they have been there and without food. They deserved so much better from the very beginning. ❤️🐾
Choose kindness. Choose responsibility. Be the reason an animal gets a second chance. We are a community, and a community works together to solve problems, solve problems, and look out for each other's welfare. Even the furry ones.
Together, we've got this.
