Four young kittens were left inside a pet carrier near a mailbox in Northwood, Ohio, and by the time anyone found them, most were already dying.

Neighbors discovered the carrier while checking their mail on Tuesday. Two kittens were already dead.

A third was in critical condition and had to be humanely euthanized. Only one kitten survived, arriving at the Wood County Humane Society so cold that his temperature would not even register on a thermometer.

All four kittens were severely underweight and coated in a sticky, oily substance that investigators still cannot identify. "I could see there were what looked like dead, wet kittens in there," Brenda Billingsley told WTOL. Her husband Luke wants whoever did this held accountable, saying "they need to be outed for this because it's cruel."

Right now, investigators have no leads on who left these kittens to die. The Wood County Humane Society and the Wood County Prosecutor's Office need to make finding this person a priority.

Animal abandonment like this is a crime under Ohio law, and this kitten's suffering should not go unanswered. Sign the petition to demand a full investigation and prosecution before another animal pays the price for someone's cruelty.