The Nassau SPCA is offering a $5,000 reward to find whoever dumped a kitten in a garbage can in Roosevelt. 

Sanitation worker Jamie Herbert and his partner found the kitten in a garbage can when they were collecting trash on Westbrook Lane in Roosevelt around 7 a.m.

"I knew we had to save it because I'm a cat lover,” says Herbert.

The kitten is just a couple of pounds and only about 2 months old. Now she is in the care of veterinarians but this morning she was outside in the cold.

Herbert says he put the kitten in a cardboard box to keep her warm and then called his supervisor for help. The sanitation supervisor brought the kitten to Baldwin Animal Hospital. Veterinarians say the kitten would not have made it through the night had it not been brought in.

"Frankly we didn't give it all that much of a chance of living," says veterinarian Dr. Neal Saslow.

Saslow says the kitten is now eating and drinking and her temperature is normal, although she might need eye surgery in the future. 

"Someone definitely put this kitten in the garbage," says Saslow. "It's too high. It's a little kitten. It's not going to be jumping up there. There’s a lot of lousy people out there who just … I just find it hard to understand."

Herbert says he has been checking up on the kitten throughout the day. He hopes she makes a full recovery and finds a good forever home.

Dr. Saslow is hopeful the kitten will be ready for adoption in about a week.

Anyone interested in adopting the kitten can call the Baldwin Animal Hospital at 516-223-1555. Anyone with information on who may have left the kitten should call the SPCA at 516-THE-SPCA.