Kittens found in dumpster

A surprising discovery was made a couple of weeks ago at a Fort Wayne restaurant. Employees there are being called heroes after an every day chore turned into a life-saving move for some kittens.

Shawna Gehring, the manager of the Hardees on East State Boulevard went to check a dumpster after two people inside the restaurant told her they heard what sounded like crying inside the trash bin. In the dumpster she found four kittens inside a garbage bag.

"I couldn't just leave them in there. I can't imagine anyone just throwing them away like that," said Shawna Gehring.

Shawna and some of her employees rescued the kittens.  Then, Shawna took them home and nursed them back to health for two weeks.

"They needed a little bit of fostering, a little bit of bottle feeding to get ready to move on," said Gehring.

She knew exactly what to do next. Emilie Beard has the cats now.  She volunteers at Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control and she's a regular customer at the Hardee's. But she's also co founder of H.O.P.E., an organization trying to reduce the number of animals that are euthanized.

"They need help so badly that I just cannot bear to leave an injured animal to suffer," said Beard Emilie will keep the kittens until they are ready to be adopted.

But the buck doesn't stop there. Doug Hartle with Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control says whoever did this could face misdemeanor charges that could include fines and even jail time. Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control says this case has "special" circumstances.

"They're going to suffocate they're going to die a painful death and that is the crux of this case," said Hartle.

He's asking anyone with information about who dumped the kittens to contact Animal Care and Control.