Little kid left a heart-wrenching note beside three abandoned kittens — what it said about his dad left the rescuer in tears
A walk through a Michigan park led a woman to a discovery that left her shaken. Three tiny kittens, barely opening their eyes, were abandoned in a small box, accompanied by a note written in what appeared to be a child’s handwriting. The sight was enough to make anyone pause, but the message inside hinted at a deeper, tragic story. On December 9, 2025, the rescuer shared the story online, giving a glimpse into the devastating note that revealed why the baby felines were left behind.
As reported by Newsweek on Thursday, December 11, 2025, the woman, Kelly, came across the kittens during a routine walk with her dog and found their box near a "drinking fountain." She then took the kittens home and devoted the next several weeks to caring for them. She bottle-fed the fragile kittens and spent hours socializing them with humans, as well as her own pets. What shocked her most was not just the discovery, but the gut-wrenching note left by a child, which read, "If I didn't, my dad said he would kill them. Please love them."
Kelly said she could imagine the child riding his or her bicycle, carefully bringing the kittens to the park, hoping someone would take them in. “I mean, I had no choice but to love them,” she wrote in a Reddit post under her handle u/Few-Abbreviations633. Later, when she learned that a local shelter had space, she brought the kittens there after three months of constant care, and all three were adopted within a week. The note, which revealed the terrifying threat from the child’s parent, left her deeply moved and saddened. "Unfortunately, I've known too many people like this parent."
Looking back, Kelly expressed her sympathy for both the kittens and the child who left them. “It's unthinkable to threaten to kill little kittens if your kid doesn't get rid of them. Poor kid,” she said. She also urged pet owners to spay and neuter their pets to prevent unwanted litters, noting that free services are available through local vets and shelters. Kelly added that she “half expect[s] to find another box of kittens over there this spring,” showing how common such situations can be. Many users also flooded the comment section of the viral post with warm messages. u/LavenderBeetles suggested, "Leave a note where you found the box saying that the kittens are safe so that the kid knows. Thank you for being compassionate." u/razzbairyfairy expressed, "I can’t believe the absolute cruelty of some people." While u/CosmicSweets wrote, "Thank you for saving the kittens."
As Kelly pointed out, the problem of people abandoning their pets is unfortunately not uncommon. In a recent case, a shopper discovered a litter of tiny kittens left in an abandoned shopping cart in a store parking lot, along with a handwritten note explaining their care needs and why they could not be kept. “Did not work out so well with another cat, as she is too pushy over food, and it caused issues. Please keep them together at least." The kittens were quickly taken in by store staff overnight and then sent to a local shelter, while the mother cat, initially missing, was later found safe nearby.