Dumped kitten saved from death by binmen

A three-week-old kitten has been saved from being crushed to death in a recycling truck after it was dumped in a bin in Devon. During its terrifying ordeal the female tortoiseshell kitten was thrown into a bin full of cardboard which was then emptied into the back of a waste truck.

As the truck's crusher began operating, two bin men heard her cries and immediately stopped the mechanism.The men, who were completing their round on Cornwall Street in Plymouth then saw the tiny kitten fall from the crusher's blades.

The kitten, which has since been named Lucky, was unharmed in the incident. She was taken to the Devon Contract Waste depot on Sowton Industrial Estate, in Exeter, where she has been adopted by the staff.

Ms Cook said Lucky was not any bigger than her hand and she rushed the kitten to the vet, who gave her baby milk to give to the animal.

Lucky is now being looked after by the company's managing director Simon Almond, his wife Anne-Marie and their two daughters aged 13 and 15, who are taking it in turns to do four-hour feeds.