SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - Police in Somerville are searching for answers after several tiny kittens have been found abandoned in shoeboxes around the city in recent weeks.

PJ Broderick says he found one kitten, named Faith, on a street corner near McGrath Highway in a box that had holes poked in it. The kitten was just a few days old.

“It was tied tight in like a shoebox,” Broderick said. “When we opened it, it looked terrified. So we brought it back to my house and we took care of it. Now it’s part of the family.”

Broderick’s mother, Christine, believes whoever is abandoning the kittens owns a cat that is not spayed or neutered.

“I feel bad for the people who have this problem. I wish somebody could talk to them and say ‘hey you can drop them off here,'” she said.

On Friday, on the very same street corner, another box was found with a kitten inside. The handwriting on the box appeared to be similar to that on the initial box, which was discovered weeks earlier.

Kyli Tatro, who was temporarily caring for the kitten, said her friend found the animal suffering.

“It was probably in the 90s that day,” she said. “When we finally got the box untaped, he was panting really heavily and dragging his back legs.”

Tatro named the kitten George Clooney. She has since found him a forever home.

A third kitten was found over the weekend on Wigglesworth Street.

Abandoning a pet is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and seven years in prison.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police.

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