The Burnaby SPCA is putting a puppy and a visually impaired kitten up for adoption as a pair, after the two recovered together in foster care.

“We would like to get them both adopted together. They’ve kind of bonded together with their sad stories,” said Ryan Voutilainen, branch manager for the Burnaby SPCA. “They enjoy being together.”

Last November, Beans, a Yorkshire terrier mix, was found in a Burnaby’s George Green Park, lost, cold and malnourished.

“They found this poor little puppy, who was only at that time probably around six weeks old,” Voutilainen said.

“He’s a Yorkshire terrier mix. He was hypothermic, so he was really, really cold. He was also a little bit underweight.”

Rhonda Ott, an SPCA staff member on duty that night, took the puppy into her care.

“For the first two weeks, it was touch and go. He wasn’t eating. He had to be force fed,” Voutilainen said.

Then in October, a black-and-white kitten was brought to a Surrey veterinarian by a man wishing to remain anonymous, who said he witnessed children dropping the kitten and stepping on him when he was only two weeks old. Binx’s eyes were barely open, but the flea-infested kitten already had head trauma and eye injuries and was left permanently visually impaired.

Binx was later turned over to the SPCA, which would normally conduct a cruelty investigation, but since the man left no trace, they had no way to follow up on the case.

“We have nothing to corroborate the information that was provided. We don’t even know if it was truthful. All we know is we had this kitten come in with eye issues, likely the result of trauma,” Voutilainen said.

“It was definitely something we would want to investigate. Even if the kids were too young, we would want to talk to the parents.”

The kitten was handed over to the SPCA, the same staff member caring for Beans took Binx in, and the two critters soon bonded.

“They play together, they’re always around each other, they sleep together,” Voutilainen said.

The SPCA raised $2,500 to cover the costs of emergency veterinarian care and follow-up treatment for the pair, and Binx still has problems with his vision.

Binx now is three months old, and Beans is approximately five months old. Binx doesn’t need any special care, but prospective owners do need to be aware that he’s visually impaired and may need time to familiarize himself to new surroundings.

Because Beans was found so malnourished, he may have health concerns down the road, Voutilainen said.

The two will be put up for adoption soon, and Voutilainen suspects they’ll go fast.

“They are going to be gone,” he said. “A lot of people’s hearts are going to be broken when they go up for adoption.”

Go to www.spca.bc.ca/branches/ burnaby for more information or to see the animals available for adoption.