Cat owners have been criticised for dumping their pets outside a Keighley animal shelter.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Cat Rescue spoke out after a kitten was left on a cold night near the Cross Roads refuge.

The nine-week-old kitten, named Dawn by Cat Rescue staff, was left with a note saying her owner was being evicted. Staff wondered where Dawn’s mother and siblings were because she was too young to have already been sold.

Christina Savage, from the Cat Rescue, said that leaving a kitten in a box on a cold night in a very busy road was irresponsible.

She said one of the charity’s supporters, passing the drive, had spotted the box and pulled it out of the way of a large lorry.

Christina said: “Dawn’s chances of being found were minute – everyone was shaking with shock at what could have been the outcome for her.

“People really must stop leaving cats like this. It is completely irresponsible, dangerous and inhumane.”