SHARON HILL, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A 59-year-old Delaware County man is facing felony charges, accused of leaving kittens to die in plastic bins outside of a Sharon Hill veterinary clinic.
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Animal protective services officers with Brandywine Valley SPCA say Harold Thomas of Collingdale can be seen in July 15 surveillance video carrying a plastic tub across the railroad tracks into Sharon Hill, then leaving the tub outside the Spayed Club Clinic on the 800 block of Chester Pike.
The clinic was closed that day, and there are signs posted on the doors saying it’s cruel and illegal to leave animals outside the clinic.
Two kittens were found dead in the bin when an employee saw it about 10 hours later.
Sharon Hill police say the same man is seen in an Aug. 11 video leaving another bin outside the clinic. The clinic was also closed on that day.
Three dead kittens were found in that bin about 15 hours later.
In a criminal complaint, Thomas admits to leaving the first bin, but he denies leaving the second one.
Brandywine Valley SPCA spokeswoman Sara Smith says it’s not uncommon to find litters of feral kittens this time of year. She says the SPCA can help.
“You can call us for rehoming,” Smith said. “We have a community cat program that is for free.”
The SPCA says the most humane thing to do is to trap, spay/neuter and vaccinate feral cats and then return them to their communities. Community cat programs like this provide basic health care services for the animals, and they help prevent more cats from being born with no homes.
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“Those are things that we do here at the Brandywine Valley SPCA to help prevent sorts of cases like this,” Smith said.
“It's really important to focus on the animals in this case. These litters of kittens … they're not trash. These are kittens. These are lives. These are animals that deserve our respect and care.”
Thomas is facing five felony counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, and five misdemeanor counts of neglect of animals.
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