Nottingham, UK - Employees of the RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Center recently discovered a cardboard box on top of a trash can. They thought it was garbage – until they heard the startling cries of baby cats.

Shelter workers almost ignored a cardboard box put out with the trash, when they suddenly heard desperate little meows.

They shared the story of the surprising and heartbreaking find on Facebook.

"As we carefully opened up this small cardboard box, out peered three pairs of wide and bewildered eyes."

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Inside the cardboard box were three abandoned kittens, and the babies were pretty shaken up. The box had been "tightly taped up."

"These precious little ones are lucky to have been found before they overheated and suffocated or got mistaken for rubbish," their rescuers said.

The shelter workers quickly freed the poor kittens and got them the care they needed.

The little ones will need a little time to recover, their rescuers said, before they're ready to be adopted.

And when they are ready, these frightened kittens will need a home with a lot of kindness.

"They will need lots of positive experiences to gain their trust and safe places where they can choose to hide if they don’t feel ready to say hello and play," the rescuers wrote.

"Absolutely heartbreaking," a user commented.

Hopefully these poor little fur balls will find a caring forever home soon.