More than a dozen cats were found dead on a stretch of land in Queens — sparking an animal cruelty investigation as rescuers suspect they were thrown over a chain link fence.

The 15 animals were found Saturday near 102nd Street and 115th Avenue in Howard Beach — on the other side of the fence separating a residential block from an area filled with brush and grass, according to Meagan Licari, president of the organization Puppy Kitty NY City.

Licari said she was tipped off about the heartbreaking discovery when a neighbor sent her pictures. 

“I rushed over there to see things for myself because the neighbor was having trouble getting a police response,” Licari told The Post Wednesday.

“So I got there and … it was just so heartbreaking because most of them are little kittens, and just to see their little claws and their lifeless little bodies is just absolutely heartbreaking.

“Then you just start thinking, like, ‘What happened to them? Who did this?’ And your mind starts to kind of wander,” she said.

All of the felines appeared to be stray or feral cats in “varying stages of decomposition,” Licari said.

Licari returned to the scene again the next day, joined by an ASPCA humane law enforcement liaison.

“He gave me the permission to take one of the bodies that I was able to reach because it was kind of hanging on the fence,” Licari said, “which makes us believe that they were being tossed over and like this one just happened to not make it.”

The ASPCA removed the rest of the bodies, Licari said. 

In a statement, the ASPCA said that it is “supporting this ongoing investigation by conducting necropsies on the cats to assist in evidence collection and help determine causes of death,” at the request of the NYPD.

The NYPD confirmed that its animal cruelty squad is investigating.

The causes of death were not immediately known. 

The incident comes weeks after Licari’s organization rescued three cats who had suffered “similar injuries to their paws” in Richmond Hill.

One of the felines needed to be euthanized due to her extensive injuries, but the other two are recovering well, Licari said. 

“I do believe that there is abuse of cats out there happening every single day,” Licari said. “We just don’t hear about it and we just can’t prove it. But there’s a lot of animal abuse taking place and this is evidence of it.

“You know, we just happened to come across these cats,” she added. “We just happened to be able to get the right people to respond. So I think it speaks to a problem that’s going on. It’s definitely not just these cases. There’s a lot of other things happening and it’s really sad.”