GREENSBORO, N.C. — A downtown Greensboro cat cafe was left scrambling to care for seven cats and kittens that were dumped outside their door Wednesday.
Karen Stratman owns Crooked Tail Cat Cafe - a coffee shop that also gives homeless cats the chance to be adopted.
Stratman said store video showed a woman drop off a box outside the cafe's front door and take off. Seven cats, including a litter of kittens, were inside.
"They weren't vaccinated, they were covered in flees. So like of course, all of our cats here are on flee preventative but we can't risk a flee infestation especially being open to the public," said Stratman.
The cafe posted the video on its Facebook page, hoping someone might recognize the woman.
Stratman said she hopes this is a reminder to others: dumping animals is illegal. Instead, you should contact a rescue to see if they have space or a local shelter.
"When somebody is bringing in an animal through a rescue usually the rescue is aware the animal is coming in. The owner will sign a surrender form and it's also the same when you bring the animal through a county shelter. Sometimes you even have to set up an appointment to surrender the animal," said Stratman.
The cafe said a local rescue group was able to take in the cats, but this could have been a different situation.
"Through much effort, Triad Independent Cat Rescue was able to squeeze the cats into their program, just barely. We cannot thank them enough, but please do not see this as an excuse to dump animals on us. Our rescues are full and remain full year-round," the cafe wrote in a Facebook post.
Stratman says police looked at the security feed but said without a license plate number and vehicle description there wasn't much they could do. Ultimately, the owner just wants to educate and spread awareness.
PHOTOS: 7 cats, kittens dumped outside Greensboro cat café
