KITTENS sold from a box in Beverley's Wednesday Market for £1 on the hottest day of the year may have been bought for "live bait" for fighting dogs, it is feared.
A passer-by found two kittens, barely a month old and dehydrated, cowering in the cardboard box moments after the seller was asked to leave the shopping area.
Leah Elvidge, a trustee at Hull Animal Welfare Trust, which is now nursing the kittens back to health at its South Cave shelter, said: "We're absolutely disgusted. It's utterly appalling.
"It was extremely hot on Sunday and they were being kept in a stinking box without food and water."
Temperatures peaked at 26.2C (79F) in Beverley and 27C (80.6F) in Hull on Sunday as the Met Office placed East Yorkshire on heatwave alert.
Leah said: "Words really can't describe this – or the woman.
"Thank goodness the kittens were found by a passer-by who called us.
"It's likely they're the lucky ones – anything could have happened to the others. They are very fortunate to be alive."
The cats have been named Boston and Edith by staff at the Animal Welfare Trust. Leah said it is impossible to know how many kittens were sold before the seller was given her marching orders.
She said: "The lady just told us they were being sold for £1 and the seller was asked to leave. She left the box behind.
"We were called and we asked the lady if she could take the kittens to Kingston Vets in Hull city centre, which we knew would be open."
Vets at the Park Street practice treated both kittens for worms before they were passed to Hull Animal Welfare Trust.
Leah said: "Both kittens were full of worms, which would have eventually killed them.
"All this could have been avoided had the owner done the responsible thing and got her cat spayed.
"There's no excuse for selling from a cardboard box in the street."
Leah said it is likely the kittens, considering their price tag and the fact they were sold in a street, would have gone to the wrong sort of buyer.
"They will have been bought on a whim," she said.
"We also know some people will buy kittens and puppies to use as bait.
"We would ask people again to help us by ensuring their animals are spayed."
Amy Bryan, deputy manager of the charity's Sunnydene Animal Shelter, said: "It's disgusting.
"People buy kittens to use for bait for their dogs.
"The kittens are only about five weeks old – they should be with their mother until they are at least eight weeks old."
Amy said the charity, struggling with 80 cats in a facility designed for 60, hopes to eventually re-home the kittens once they have grown and recovered from their ordeal.
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