Tiny kitten Gizmo was put in a garbage bag with his mother and three siblings and cruelly tossed from an upper-floor Melbourne apartment block. Against all odds, he was the only survivor of the fall.

Good Samaritan Mario was visiting a friend when he had to sidestep around a garbage bag on the footpath.

He noticed the bag moving and heard a noise coming from inside. Mario thought it was probably a rat, but opened the bag to check and was shocked to find a family of cats.

The mother cat was dead and had gruesome injuries. There were also two or three dead kittens in a similar state.

Mario heard a faint sound and noticed that one kitten was alive, barely, trying to feed from its dead mother. He gently cradled the kitten in his hand and rushed it home, gave it some warm milk and snuggled up with it to keep it warm for the night.

The next morning, Mario brought the kitten to Lort Smith. Adoption Centre General Manager Serena Horg took the kitten into Lort Smith’s care, and while it was certainly not out of the woods, she was hopeful the little fellow would survive.

‘I was appalled to think that anyone could be this heartless,’ Serena said. ‘There’s absolutely no reason for it. If people have animals they don’t want, we can always help them.’

Gizmo spent a few days at Lort Smith being thoroughly looked over by our vets and miraculously he appeared to be healthy. We then organised for him to go into a loving foster care home where he received the TLC he deserved.

Gizmo grew bigger and stronger every day in foster care and was well enough to return to Lort Smith for adoption.

We received a lot of interest from people keen to adopt this incredible little man and we found him a wonderful home.

Gizmo is now happy and healthy and living with another cat named Cleo who was also adopted from Lort Smith. They’ve found the most wonderful loving home and become the best of friends. Gizmo’s carer says he’s a very happy tubby tabby who loves Cleo, cuddles and biscuits, and brings lots of love to their little family.