Clifton Police

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

A Paterson woman has been charged after two kittens were found abandoned inside a backpack on a hot summer afternoon, Clifton police said.

Officers were called to Adams Street around 5 p.m. on Aug. 22, after witnesses saw a bag moving on the ground and sidewalk and suspected animals were trapped inside, according to Clifton Police Lt. Robert Anderson.

The temperature was about 85 degrees, and the kittens had no food or water, police said. Clifton Animal Control responded, took the animals into custody, and brought them to a local veterinarian for evaluation.

The vet determined that both kittens were suffering from multiple medical conditions and hygiene issues, Anderson said. They have since received proper treatment.

An investigation led by Detective Brian DeYoung of the Clifton Police Juvenile Division — who is also a Humane Law Enforcement Officer trained in animal cruelty cases — identified Chastidy Gadson, 41, of Paterson, as the kittens’ owner and the person responsible for abandoning them, according to the release.

Gadson was charged on Oct. 28, with two counts of animal cruelty (4th-degree crimes) and two counts of animal abandonment (disorderly persons offenses). She was issued a complaint summons pending her first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court, police said.