Farmer rescues four tiny kittens dumped in Bosham lay-by: “They didn’t even have their eyes open yet”

A farm manager has come to the rescue of four days-old kittens which were dumped in a lay-by in Bosham yesterday morning.
The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte WilkinsonThe kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson
The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson

Tony Collyer, farm manager at Heaver Farm, was driving along Newells Lane on his way out for the farm rounds at just after 8am when he spotted the blue transit van ahead of him pull into a lay-by.

Tony’s suspicions were aroused and he turned around, thinking perhaps the driver had flytipped in the space.

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But when he pulled over into the lay-by, he was astonished to find four tiny kittens.

The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte WilkinsonThe kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson
The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson

“They hadn’t even got their eyes open yet,” he said. “I thought – good grief.”

He whipped off his coat and wrapped the kittens safely inside before immediately driving them to Downland Vets in Stirling Road, Chichester.

Tony said: “It was lucky I came along.

“I think another half an hour and they would have been dead.

The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte WilkinsonThe kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson
The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson

“They were very cold when they arrived at the vets.”

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The kittens had been put placed on a cushion on the ground, but Tony fears they would have soon crawled off and then no one would have spotted them.

He said he did not think twice about rescuing the kittens. “I don’t think anyone with a heart would have left them there,” he said.

Tony, who has his own pet cat and describes himself as ‘a bit of an animal lover’ said: “It’s a bit awful really.”

The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte WilkinsonThe kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson
The kittens at the vets. Photo: Charlotte Wilkinson

He said he regretted not taking down the van’s registration number, adding that trying to track the vehicle down without it was like looking for ‘a needle in a haystick’.

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Charlotte Wilkinson, a nurse at the Downland Veterinary Group, has been looking after the kittens since they arrived.

She said: “They’re doing really well, myself and the other nurses are handrearing them and they’ve all got prospective new homes.”

She said the kittens were just days old when they were brought in, adding: “They definitely needed feeding up, they were quite cold.”

They will be cared for until they are strong enough to move on after eight or nine weeks.

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