BINGHAM, Maine (WABI) - This past weekend, a roughly three month old kitten was found in a tied plastic bag at a transfer station in Concord Township, just outside Bingham in Somerset County
The kitten is alive and being cared for, thanks to the vigilance of an employee
“I kept hearing a kitten meowing, and then I kept looking, and I see a bag moving,” said Peter Abraham, the transfer station manager for the town of Bingham. “So, I went back to the garage, and I got my pick pole, and I pulled the bag apart, and the kitten was in the bag.”
That was when he called Tina Tibbetts, Bingham’s new animal control officer
“It upset me a lot. It upset a lot of people in Bingham, knowing that someone couldn’t just bring him to the Humane Society. You don’t have to throw an animal into the dump,” said Tibbetts
Tibbetts and other town officials say this incident shows the crucial need for animal welfare resources in Maine
A candlemaker by trade, Tibbetts has no history of working with animals, but she stepped up when she saw a need in her rural community
“I saw the sign. I love animals, and I knew Bingham needed an animal control officer. Nobody wanted the job,” said Tibbetts
The kitten, now named “Dumpster,” is one of more than 70 animals Tibbetts has helped relocate in just two weeks of working for the town as ACO out of her own home