Maybe you can foster them until they can be gotten into a rescue?  Check
into spay/neuter resources too.  They often can help with the kittens, and
if the momma isn't spayed, they are going to have another litter.  I wish
the group my friend is with was in your area.  They will come to the
person's house and pick up the cat so they have no excuses.  Spay fee is
whatever you can afford.

I hope it will be the fate of those kittens to be adopted by caring people
such as yourself, Kristy, who will love and take good care of them.   I will
have my three purr to Bast that that will happen.  And I'm sure other good
cat parents have come by their kittens when a family advertised Free Kittens
in the past. In less enlightened times in the 60's and 70's, my mom gave
away a fair number of free kittens herself, and poor Luna had more litters
than we should have let her have before we had her spayed.

But... The thought of the short, miserable life and the terrifying, painful
death those kittens  would experience at the hands of callous Pit Bull
owners in the name of "training"  just makes me unbearably sad and angry.
Even being taken to a shelter and eventually euthanized  would be a kinder
end for them than that.  Careless cat and dog owners who won't spay and
neuter their animals are bad enough.  But Pit Bulls send ME off into rant
land. Especially since two children have been attacked by pitbulls around
where I live in the past month, one of them fatally. In the fatal case, the
dogs were considered beloved family pets, but they just turned on the kid
unexpectedly. (The mother used INCREDIBLY bad judgement, IMO, and has been
charged with felony child endangerment.)  When will people learn that
keeping aggressive attack dogs in a household with children or even in a
densely populated neighborhood is a seriously BAD idea???

  Don't get me wrong, I am VERY fond of dogs who are friendly and
well-behaved. My late friend Vee had a very gentle German Shepherd, and Mia
and I were great friends. Vee's grandchildren and great nieces and nephews
adored Mia too, and there was never a problem with Mia being aggressive
toward the kids, or toward anybody else.  I blame pitbull owners more than
the dogs themselves for the dogs are what the humans made them. But still,
some breeds of dogs ARE naturally more aggressive than others, and are not
safe as pets, IMO.  There are too many risks involved. And where is the
pleasure and companionship that SHOULD accompany dog ownership if the person
is always wondering if Rover will lick their hand or tear it off at the
wrist? I wouldn't want to be around a dog like that for five minutes.

All right... Rant mode off.  Sorry all.

I hope the new neighbors will at least put some thought into the
prospective adopters of their kittens.  And I hope they did listen to you
about spaying the mama kitty, Lori.  Sometimes, alas, we have to acknowledge
our limits, of our financial resources if not our hearts. As much as you
love your cats, you still have to think of such details as mortgages,
utilities and groceries. No one of us can rescue all the cats in need in the
world, or even at the local shelter no matter how much we might want to.
You did what you could for that little mama cat  by talking to her owners,
which is more than many people would have done.  If they're thick-headed,
it's not for want of your trying to tell them there's a better way to care
for their animals.

Melissa

I'm sorry, but if you cannot afford $25 for a kitten, can you really
afford to take care of it?

Perhaps not enforceable, but it sounds like a good, sensible and fair plan,
Steve.  It also gives the prospective owners a good example of the
importance of regular innoculations and health care for the  kittens.  And
having to read through and sign a contract, and the possibility of getting
their money back once they've done the responsible thing adds a certain
attraction for them, and should weed out impulsive adoptions.

Melissa

Hey, it was sneakiness in a good cause, Sherry. =o) After all everyone
concerned benefitted, and who was harmed? Nobody!  You followed your
conscience and the vet got paid.  You did a good day's work for the dog,
since she won't be a source of more unwanted puppies in the future.  And the
owner's feathers weren't ruffled out of place. Animal welfare and future
health  is worth a bent truth, or two, I think.

Melissa

Catnipped, I sympathize with you and these kittens, but your
responsibility is to your cats that you already have.  If you are
scratching for money to take care of your own needs and the needs of
the cats you already have, then it is not fair to ANYONE in the
household to bring in another cat.

Back in 2003,
I thought we would have to give away the bitties because I couldn't
afford vet bills and more food--my job was ending 3 weeks after DP
brought them home, and I had obligations to Smokey and Nox with the
money I'd managed to save.
The only reason we have the bitties is because DP got a big line of
credit to pay for medical school and he sacrificed a few trips and
nights out in order to spend the money on kitten care.   Those kittens
are really his in so many ways.

I now hope we don't find any more orphan bits or stray Smokeys because
we are treating our clowder in style, but it'll be tight if we have a
vet emergency.

I purr that these kittens will find good homes.  Bast bless.

--Fil