Almost 30 kittens as young as four weeks old have been found dumped, starving and close to death in woods near Canterbury.

The malnourished litters – which were squeezed into just three cat carriers – have been so badly treated that many of the cats have missing eyeballs.

They were found by the RSPCA in woodland at Chartham after a boy riding his bike spotted the boxes - with 15 kittens still inside.

Members of the animal charity’s branch at Hersden set up traps on Sunday and have since caught another 11 – just two of them adults.

They are all being treated in isolation at the centre, with many in a serious condition.

The centre’s deputy manager Tara Luxford says she has not seen anything like it in her 10 years working with animals.

She said: “It’s just shocking. Abandonment has increased this year but to see it first-hand and to that extreme is unbelievable.

“We’ve been bombarded. The number keeps going up and up.

“It’s hard to understand how so many animals can be dumped, and in the condition they were in.

“Some of them would have undoubtedly died if we hadn’t found them. They were left to run loose with no food, no water and no shelter.

“Some have eyeballs missing and one kitten, which is only about four weeks old, has a protruding eye. It’s in a really bad way.

“Most of the others have got health issues, including runny eyes, malnourishment, dehydration and diarrhoea.”

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It is not yet clear when the kittens were dumped, or why, but Mrs Luxford is hoping those responsible will be caught.

She said: “They’ve dumped three cat carriers and just opened the doors. I don’t know how they’ve managed to fit all those cats in three carriers. It’s just outrageous.

“The RSPCA inspector doesn’t think there’s much chance of catching them, but somebody must know someone who had 30 cats and now doesn’t.

“We don’t know why they didn’t just ask for help.”

The kittens are believed to be from three different litters, with most aged between four and eight weeks old.

Geoff Holland, a trustee of the charity, said: “Some of them literally had no chance and would have been eaten in no time.

“It would have been just as easy for these heartless b**gers to have dumped them on our doorstep.”

Cats Protection volunteer Pat King added: “It’s abhorrent to just dump vulnerable kittens like this in a wood, and totally unnecessary when there are so many animal charities that would have taken them.”

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