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Bomb squad called to defuse bag of kittens left outside church in Ohio

‘They didn’t hear ticking, they heard purring’

Louise Hall
Monday 22 February 2021 11:49 GMT
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<p>Butler County Sheriff’s Office said its bomb unit had been called to inspect a bag outside a church   </p>

Butler County Sheriff’s Office said its bomb unit had been called to inspect a bag outside a church

Authorities in Ohio were met with a pleasant surprise when a “suspicious package” they had been called to investigate outside a church turned out to be a bag of kittens.

Butler County Sheriff’s Office said their bomb unit had been called to inspect a bag at a church in New Miami on Thursday. Instead of explosives, they discovered it contained a cat and six one-day-old kittens.

“When Specialist Mike Grimes and Det Detherage arrived, they didn’t hear ticking they heard purring,” the department said in the post on Facebook.

A note left on a paper napkin said that the mother cat, named Sprinkles, went into labour on 17 Feburary at 2pm

The police department assured the public the “momma and babies are warm, cozy and fed” and had been transferred to an animal shelter.

Animal Friends Humane Society confirmed in a post on Friday that one of its shelters was caring for Sprinkles and her newborns.

The shelter said that all six kittens had been given “gentle baths when they arrived.”

Butler County Sheriff's Office said its bomb unit had been called to inspect a bag at a church in New Miami, Ohio

They added that Sprinkles, who was “purring through it all”, received vaccines and blood test and appeared “to be in good health.”

A cat named Sprinkles and six one-day-old kittens were found in the bag

The shelter said the mother was "doing a fantastic job nursing and caring for her babies” and that all seven cats would be placed with a foster family on Friday afternoon.

“We will give regular updates on Sprinkles and her kittens as they grow and mature over the next two months,” they said.

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