Animal rescuers will tell you nothing surprises them anymore, but that usually doesn’t last long. That appears to be the case for the Celia Hammond Animal Trust.

The organization’s Facebook post says they got a call late last week from a woman who walked past an alley and she noticed several cardboard boxes that were taped shut. All of a sudden she heard meowing! 

Rescuers raced to the alley in Stratford, England, grabbed the boxes, raced to their shelter, and quickly worked to unseal them.

They found eleven young cats inside. They would have suffocated if everyone didn’t act as quickly as they did. 

The rescue group’s Facebook post reveals their heartbreak over whoever did this: “We can only assume the intention was for them to die as surely everybody knows animals need to be able to breathe to survive. The boxes cannot have been there very long as without oxygen our vets estimate they probably wouldn’t have lived more than an hour or two. One really strange thing is that these cats are really friendly and have clearly once been loved, handled and cuddled - what on earth would drive an apparently loving owner to do something so terrible? Perhaps it was a family member or neighbour who hated the cats enough to do this.”

All the cats were underweight and covered in fleas. The group is nursing them back to health right now. You can click here to donate toward their care. The group also has an Amazon wish list

If anyone has information about who left the cats in the boxes, or if you’re in the area and have unwanted cats, the shelter asks you to email them at canningtown@celiahammond.org.