Dalby pet store Jess’ Barnyard overwhelmed after 10 kittens left on doorstep

The owner of a Dalby pet store said they were ‘fed up’ after 10 kittens were left abandoned at their door, making an emotional plea to the community for support.

Kittens left at Jess' Barn

A local pet store says they feel “used and taken advantage of” after 10 kittens were dumped outside of their doors on Wednesday.

Staff said they were already at capacity and these 10 new kittens had placed an unmanageable strain on their business.

Owner Jess Banks said she was “fed up” after the kittens were left without so much as an explanation or a thank you.

“Ten kittens were dumped in a plastic tub at our front door yesterday, a man on a bicycle with a trailer on the back dumped them and fled,” she said.

“The lid was barely attached and if it wasn’t for the gentleman parked in his car that witnessed it happen the kittens probably would’ve escaped onto the busy road.

“We were serving at the time and as I walked back to the counter someone was greeting me with the tub telling me they'd been dumped at the door. I always expected this would happen but for it to happen during daylight was a shock.”

Kittens left at Jess' Barn

Ms Banks said the store did not make a profit off helping the surrenders and being overburdened with animals which had placed strain on her business.

“We don’t get paid to do this, we don’t get anything back in return, we don’t make any profit from this. People seem to focus on the physical size of our store and forget that we are still a small business run by one person,” she said.

“We’ve been trying to cut back because every litter we take through costs us about $1000 dollars and that's not including wages, it’s quality food, cat litter, cleaning goods.

“It is starting to take a toll putting so much into the rescue, I love doing it but we have been trying to cut back on the ones we do take and rely more on the pound.

“We've been turning people away, we turned down two phone calls that day and to have them dumped at the door made it so much harder when you are trying to stand tall and stick to not taking more in.

“It’s financially, emotionally, physically draining, there is a lot of maintenance when you have kittens to clean up after when you already have a shop to run.”

Ms Banks said she had seen a rise in the number of people wanting to surrender their pets.

“We are getting daily phone calls for puppies and kittens and it is more than any rescue can keep up with, let alone us,” she said.

“We had already turned away two separate calls for us to take kittens that same morning. Rescues are at capacity, the pound is at capacity, we are at capacity.

“Try to give them to a rescue even though most of them are at capacity, but ultimately try to desex the animals before they get to this point.”

Ms Banks said they were reaching out to the community for support.

“If people are happy to donate to the go fund me they can donate to that, we will take products, good quality cat food, flea treatments, wormers, we’d take towels and blankets but really is it more the food and cat litter side we are struggling to keep up with,” she said.

“People are not aware of how much blood, sweat, tears and money go into helping these animals.”

Donations can be made at GoFundMe

Originally published as Dalby pet store Jess’ Barnyard overwhelmed after 10 kittens left on doorstep