A one-month old kitten was abandoned inside a trash can outside of a South Jersey butcher shop and survived for three days before being rescued by the shop’s owners.
Joe More, owner of Joe’s Butcher Shop, found the kitten-covered in grease, feces and worms-inside a trash can.
Joe’s wife, Pamela, immediately took the kitten to a veterinarian where she found out the feline was malnourished, dehydrated, and at risk of losing her right eye due to an infection.
Additionally, the kitten has an upper respiratory infection and had to get a bot worm removed from her neck.
Pamela’s two daughters wanted to stay away from names like Hope or Miracle because they didn’t want the kitten to be connected with her tragic past, thus she was named Charlie Girl.
Pamela decided to share Charlie Girl’s rescue by posting her story onto Joe’s Butcher Shop’s Facebook page.
“I put the Facebook post up so the person that threw her in the trash can could see what a terrible thing they did and know that she’s being taken care of now,” said Pamela. “Never in a million years would I think it would take off like it has or reached so many people.”
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The original post about the kitten’s story has reached over 300,000 people and has over 8,000 likes, causing Pamela to create a Facebook page just for Charlie Girl.
Pamela is receiving thousands of messages not only from local residents, but people from Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Since the rescue, a GoFundMe account has been created in honor of Charlie Girl to raise money for other stray animals’ vet costs.
“We don't want other strays to be put down just because there is no money available to care for them,” said Pamela. “We plan on contacting local veterinarian offices and no-kill shelters to help offset the costs of other animals.”
In one day, the account has raised over $400 out of the $100,000 Pamela hopes to raise.
Pamela and her husband are currently going through their surveillance system footage in the hopes to catch the person who abandoned the kitten.
In the meantime, they are enjoying nursing Charlie Girl back to health.