FREEPORT – If cats have nine lives, then 13 lucky kitties are counting their blessings after being rescued from sure death by Freeport resident Laura Baumli.

Baumli discovered the animals enclosed in a sealed plastic tote while walking her dog on Gay Drive in Freeport May 10.

According to Jane Siviski, Coastal Humane Society marketing and development coordinator, Baumli and her daughter were walking the family dog when her daughter noticed a blue tote near a gravel pit on Gay Drive. After ordering her daughter to stand back, Baumli peeled off a thick layer of duct tape on one corner of the tote and discovered 13 cats, three adult females and 10 kittens, crawling inside, still moving and very much alive, she said.

Siviski said Baumli carried the tote back to her house and kept them overnight until the morning, when she drove the cats to the Brunswick-based Coastal Humane Society.

This is not the first time Baumli has discovered abandoned cats on Gay Drive.

“People have dumped animals in this very same place,” said Baumli, who in the past year has found and kept two abandoned cats she discovered on the road, said Siviski.

Since Baumli walks her dog twice a day along Gay Drive, she estimates the cats were there less than 24 hours.

According to Siviski, the cats were in the tote long enough for urine and feces to begin to build up.

“Things like this have happened before,” said Jane Redlon, the humane society’s volunteer and foster program coordinator. “This was unusual because it was sealed, but luckily not completely airtight.”

Within an hour of intake, the Coastal Humane Society staff had weighed, examined and assessed the cats. Darlene Brunick, lead animal care technician, had the task of sorting through them all to try and figure out which of the 10 kittens belonged to which mother cat. The three litters of kittens are estimated to be at 3 weeks, 5 weeks and 7 weeks old.

Though the area surrounding the gravel pit on Gay Drive appears to be a dumping ground for unwanted animals, the Freeport Police Department had not initiated an investigation as of Monday, according to Freeport Police Chief Gerald Scofield.

“Normally when we get these complaints, we investigate them, but our department wasn’t aware of this until Friday,” said Scofield. “We do try and find out who is responsible and will take animals to a local shelter such as the humane society.”

All the cats were in foster care early this week and have a long list of people waiting to adopt them, said Lauren Emery, adoption counselor for the organization.

“We have no doubt these kittens and cats will make it into fantastic homes. We got lucky that Laura found them when she did. Some animals are not that lucky,” said Brunick.

Some of the kittens rescued in Freeport are clean and comfortable at the Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick. They’re all in foster care now. Courtesy photo

Laura Baumli of Freeport with one of her rescued cats at the Coastal Humane Society in Brunswick. Baumli discovered 10 kittens and three cats in a sealed plastic tote while walking her dog on Gray Road in Freeport May 10. All 13 of the animals are expected to survive. Courtesy photo

Laura Baumli opened this sealed container to find 13 cats abandoned in Freeport.