Vancouver police have detained two people they believe are connected to the dumping of three live kittens into a garbage bin at a ferry terminal last month.

The pair was located in the Downtown Eastside on Wednesday, after the BC SPCA distributed surveillance video of two people tossing the bag of weeks-old kittens into a bin at the Departure Bay ferry terminal in Nanaimo.

The SPCA says the two detained people are considered persons of interest in the animal cruelty case, and will be interviewed by a special constable.

A BC Ferries employee discovered the kittens in the trash receptacle on July 27, and workers cared for the kittens overnight before turning them over to the SPCA.

Two of the tiny felines were emaciated and dehydrated, while the third had to be put down because of severe fractures in its pelvis and femur.

The surviving kittens have been nursed back to health and will be adopted out. One -- nicknamed Dumpster -- has already found a new home.