Shiver is the perfect name for a cat recently found abandoned at the Stisted landfill site.

Feb. 26 was an extremely cold night, explained Sharon Ledwith, an animal care attendant for the Animal Shelter for Huntsville, with temperatures dipping to around -30 degrees. A Muskoka Containerized Services (MCS) employee was on his normal route and noticed a woman leave after dropping off a small box at the landfill.

“At the time, he thought it was garbage,” said Ledwith. “I guess the next day he went back and noticed the box there. He opened it and there was a cat wrapped in two towels that were soaked in urine.”

The MCS employee drove to the animal shelter and handed the kitten into the hands of shelter staff, who were appalled at the fact the cat had been left in a dumpster.

“He had really bad frostbite on his paws and probably one of the most severe case of ear mites I’ve even seen,” stated Ledwith. “He had a marble-sized chunk of dried blood in his ear from the mites.”

“It never ceases to amaze us that we hear these stories continually and what people do to these animals is really unbelievable,” said Susan Winther, another animal care attendant at the shelter.

Both Ledwith and Winther agree that the number of animals, particularly cats, that get dumped at the shelter or are found roaming on highways is heart-wrenching.

“A lot of them get dumped here in a box,” stated Ledwith. “Unfortunately, this does happen a lot. We have a lot of cats come in with frostbite on their ears and paws and skinny, scrawny cats that are emaciated. If they need to go see the vet, we send them right away.”

Describing Shiver as cuddly, loveable and a cat who purrs non-stop, Ledwith indicated that within a couple of weeks, once his paws heal from the frostbite and he’s given a clean bill of health, he will be up for adoption.

“I think he’s died and gone to heaven,” she said. “He gets a lot of attention and he loves the puffy pillow he sleeps on.”