Rhode Island animal shelter offering 'stinky retripootion' for jilted lovers this Valentine's Day

Love stinks – literally.

Whether you’ve been dumped, ghosted, catfished, disrespected, cheated on, or hurt in any way, the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals wants to offer some “stinky retripootion” this Valentine’s Day.

For a $5 donation, the animal shelter will write the name of any ex-lover, situationship-no-more, or friend-turned-foe on a paper heart and leave it in a litter box for shelter cats to poop on.

Perhaps, it’s not even spurned love that you want to bury deep into some kitty litter. Maybe it’s cancer, diet culture, dementia, or something else that has poisoned your life.

Whatever it is, the Rhode Island SPCA invites you to write it down and let the cats take care of the rest.

As of Monday morning, the shelter had raised more than $5,750 and received more than 830 submissions, according to Stephanie Van Patten, director of community engagement.

The campaign, which runs through Feb. 14, has reached 39 states, the U.K., Canada, and Australia, she added.

Given the success of the campaign so far, the SPCA plans to repeat it again in the future and may even tweak it to incorporate the shelter’s dogs, Van Patten said.

When asked if the cats have taken notice of the paper hearts in their litter boxes, Van Patten noted that they are definitely intrigued by the paper and even play with the hearts sometimes, but they don’t seem bothered by them.

The shelter plans to post photos and videos of the litter boxes on its social media feeds closer to Valentine’s Day.

To learn more, visit rispa.org or check out the “Love Stinks” campaign.