The pair immediately began digging and quickly found three distressed and exhausted kittens buried in a woodland area near Hindås, 34 kilometres east of Gothenburg, local newspaper Borås Tidning reports.

Shocked by the find, the couple contacted Tina Karlsson, who runs a local shelter for abandoned cats. Karlsson said one of the four week old kittens — two females and one male — had somehow managed to clamber out of the shallow grave and get its head above ground.

“If I got hold of whoever did this I don’t know what I’d do,” she told Borås Tidning.

Karlsson said she would now nurse the kittens back to health before attempting to find a new home for them after they reach the age of twelve weeks.

“My heart bleeds for these little creatures who don’t get a chance because of idiots without a heart or a brain,” she said.