Abandoned pets alarm Canadian shelter

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Workers at an animal shelter in Winnipeg, Canada, say they are becoming alarmed at the number of abandoned pets found outside in the cold.

The Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter said four kittens were found last week, trapped inside a bag near a hotel dumpster.

"They were found in a sealed garbage bag, in this cold," Carla Martinelli-Irvine, who heads up the no-kill animal shelter, told CBC News on Wednesday.

Martinelli-Irvine said the kittens almost didn't make it, but are recovering now.

CBC News said two of the four kittens have already found new homes.

Martinelli-Irvine said pets are found outside every winter, and advised people to bring pets into the shelter instead of abandoning them.