Five black and white kittens have been found dumped on a street in Linwood.

A local resident was heading to a nearby park for a family picnic on Sunday, when she saw a plain brown box dumped on the side of the road on Wyon Street at 6PM.

Her friend told Chris Lynch Media “it’s crazy that some people would just do that instead of taking them to SPCA if they didn’t want them.”

The resident who found the kittens decided to keep one and has rehomed the other four.

Under the Animal Welfare Act, it is an offence to abandon a cat, and an obligation exists for the owner or person in charge to pass the cat into the care of a responsible person or animal welfare shelter.

SPCA said kitten season, which started in spring, has been extremely busy.

“Throughout September, SPCA saw roughly 47% more kittens in our care than the same month last year. Numbers are skyrocketing, and this is set to be one of our busiest kitten seasons yet.”

Nationwide, the SPCA is expecting to care for 3000 kittens by Christmas.