URGENT: What do I do in this situation (if anything)?

I was just in a large parking lot, and found a sweet, friendly little kitten running around; I'd estimate he's about 8-9 weeks old. I got him to come to me, and when I read his collar, it said "I belong to RV XXXXX". I looked around and found a small RV a few rows over. It was about the size of a large mini-van, at best, and the inside was full of stuff, like a hoarder's house. I looked in the open door, and saw a guy lying on a bed, which was the only empty space inside the RV. I asked if it was his kitten, and he said yes; I told him that his cat was running around the busy parking lot, and he just nodded and said it was the kitten's "play time." I put the kitten back inside the open door of the RV, and he immediately jumped out and began running across the parking lot again.

I try not to be judgmental about other pet owners and whether they can provide a proper living environment for their pets, but seriously -- this guy is living in a space that is smaller than my guest bathroom, crammed full of stuff, and letting his cat run around a full, and busy parking lot. Based on the kitten's age, he can't have had him for more than a week or two, so I can't tell if he was being well taken care of, though he did feel scrawny.

I know from past experience that contacting animal control will take at least 24 hours to get any sort of response (and that's if they respond at all). I suspect the guy in the RV will be long gone by then (and may already be gone). I'm thinking of going back to the parking lot after work and seeing if the guy and the kitten are still there. I'm tempted to just take the cat; some people at my job are like, "Yes, take him, and give him a good life that doesn't involve living in parking lots," and the other half are like, "That's stealing, you can't do that!"

What would you do?

Update: My husband and I went back to the parking lot after work, and discovered that the person living in the van was working in one of the stores there. We asked to talk to him -- it's a college aged kid. I offered to buy the kitten from him, so we could give it a good home. The kid was like, "No, no, I got the cat specifically to live in this environment." I looked around and said, "This environment? A van in a parking lot?" I tried to convince him that a cat living in a space so small is not fair to the animal; he countered that the cat is allowed outside every day, and I pointed out that letting it out into a busy parking lot where it could get hit at any moment isn't the brightest idea in the world. He said he'd stop letting it out then. I then asked where the cat was, and he said it was in the van, that it stays there while he works, and he cracks a couple of windows open for it.

It's over 80 degrees out; just sitting in our car with the windows partially open for a few minutes is stifling. Since I couldn't get the kid to sell me the cat, I told him I would call animal control, and then I did. They didn't seem to particularly care, but said they would send someone out to check into it.

I've done what I can do at this point, I guess. The kid was acting like it was almost an experiment, that he thought it was fun to be living out of a van with a kitten living with him; I feel really sorry for the kitten.

OH dear hno: Really tough situation indeed. I think at this point I would contact the local animal control and ask some questions about this person living in a parking lot and letting a kitten run loose. That is extremely dangerous for the kitten and I agree with you that this is not in the best interest of this kitten. AND LOCKING it in an RV in high temps for many hours while he works!!!!!! Even with a window open is no where near enough air. That poor kitten's life is hanging in balance right now and will probably be killed by a car. I guess I would recommend making some calls about this situation. Thanks for your efforts to try to save this little one.

A part of me wants to say steal the kitten!   But...given this guy's attitude I suspect he'd just go get another one.   Probably best to keep working through official channels to get some legal pressure to bear.    Could you call animal control again and talk to someone higher up the chain maybe?

I talked to Animal Control again, and they confirmed that they checked on the kitten and that it was not "in distress." They also apparently informed the young man to not lock the kitten in the RV anymore, which is an utterly ridiculous statement to make, because that's where he lives! Where else is he going to leave the kitten?

I guess there's nothing else to be done, if Animal Control won't take any further action. Luckily the weather is going to drop for a bit over next week into the 70's, so hopefully it won't be too bad for the kitten.
 

Finding him some  more calm parking lot, would this be a solution?  not good this either, but lesser bad...

If the cats wasnt a kitten but a adult cat, used to take care of himself, would feel much better.

So perhaps this plan - beg him let adopt out this kitten, as you ARE prepared to adopt, and let him take some adult cat, say a friendly ex-homeless...

This way, "the sheep will be whole and alive, and the wolf not hungry and happy him too", as the proverb says.