Napier SPCA has six cuddly kittens that were found living in a van that was destined to be crushed. Video / Warren Buckland
A van that was destined to be crushed had six cuddly kittens hiding inside when a Napier auto worker took a closer look.
The Toyota Voxy had been left on the side of the road for some time and was eventually impounded earlier this month by the Napier City Counciland then taken to Napier Auto Supplies to prepare it for crushing.
A staff member found five kittens huddled under the back seats when carrying out a routine vehicle inspection. Their mother was nowhere to be seen.
Napier Auto Supplies owner Paul Brown said he thinks the mother had climbed through a partially open window to give birth to the kittens, before doing a “runner”.
His first words on hearing about the feline sextuplet find were: “Bugger, what do we do with them?”
Brown said the kittens looked happy, dry and comfortable in their auto abode, but they couldn’t stay.
Napier SPCA animal attendant Rachel Hopper with the kittens rescued from a van destined for the crusher. Photo / Warren Buckland
Rachel Hopper, Napier SPCA animal attendant, took the call from Napier Auto Supplies and decided to search the van further.
Underneath all of the rubbish and clothing items left in what is believed to have been a backpackers’ van, Hopper and an SPCA volunteer found one more lucky cat.
“We were glad we got there as they needed medical treatment straight away,” Hopper said.
“They were all quite sick with cat flu and couldn’t see.”
Now residing in the comfort of Napier SPCA, the kittens have been given appropriately themed names - Mini and Cooper, Benz and Bentley, Porsche and Mazz, short for Maserati.
Mini and Cooper, two of the six kittens at Napier SPCA after being rescued from an abandoned van. Photo / Warren Buckland
Brown said the van would have been held for another few months before being crushed, and the kittens would have been found no matter what as vehicle fluids were drained and the interior cleaned out before entering the crusher.
Brown said with a laugh that he originally wasn’t going to tell his wife about the find as she would want to take them home.
“Every now and then we get feral cats in the yard but to have them come in like that, that’s a rarity.”
The kittens are available for adoption from Napier SPCA.
