Two kittens have been saved after they were covered in yellow paint and abandoned in a cardboard box at the side of the road in China . The animals were only discovered when a nearby resident heard them crying and went to investigate . Animal rights campaigners today blasted whoever left them there , labelling the act 'terribly cruel ' . Yue You Meng , from Guangzhou , said she was walking down the road when she realised the noise was coming from a battered cardboard box . Two kittens have been saved ( right ) after they were covered in yellow paint ( left ) and abandoned in a cardboard box at the side of the road in China . She said : 'When I opened it up I saw the two kittens inside covered in sticky yellow paint . 'It had almost dried and their legs were stuck together , they were stuck together , and even their eyes had been closed by the paint . 'They were really in a pitiful state so I picked the box up and took them home where I tried to clean off some of the paint . ' But the 27-year-old was unable to remove the paint and took the animals to a vet who had to cut off their fur . The sticky paint had dried and stuck the kittens ' legs together , as well as matting their fur and covering their eyes . A vet painstakingly cut the paint-covered fur off both the kittens , which took several hours . They were then wrapped in tiny blankets . A spokesman for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( PETA ) said : 'Slapping paint on animals is terribly cruel and could cause allergic reactions , blood poisoning and other life-threatening complications , including suffocation . 'Unfortunately , this type of abuse is legal in China , where there are no penalties for abusing animals . 'PETA Asia regularly communicates with municipal governments in China in an effort to implement better animal welfare legislation , including dispelling myths about rabies and assisting with other animal control issues . ' Miss Yue added : 'The kittens are better now and can walk around and do not seem to have suffered any permanent damage to their eyes or ears . 'But they still look really poorly because they had so much fur cut-off . Yue You Meng , from Guangzhou , took the kittens back to her home in a cardboard box and they are now recovering . The 27-year-old said : 'They are better now and can walk around and do not seem to have suffered any permanent damage to their eyes or ears . But they still look really poorly because they had so much fur cut-off ' 'They are very resilient and despite the bad start in life they are already starting to play around with each other like ordinary kittens . ' It is unclear whether the kittens were accidentally covered in paint and abandoned or deliberately targeted before being dumped . Police are not investigating .
Discovered in a cave by Yue You ##ng near her home in Guangzhou . Both cats are rescued after being rescued and having their fur cut off . Animal rights campaigners slammed whoever rescued them on the ground .