Kittens stolen from shelter retrieved

Jamie Doran

Valley Press

Two of the kittens taken from TRACS in Thompson Falls have been recovered and are healthy, TRACS president Wanda Thorpe said.

Unfortunately the third kitten was hit by a car and died.

The kittens were returned after being dumped in the woods in Trout Creek.

"Luckily the two that survived are doing fine," Thorpe said. "They're both healthy and doing well."

Deputy Dave Hedley of the Sanders County Sheriff's Office is investigating the burglary. Charges are pending against several individuals.

Thorpe said an individual found the two surviving kittens coming into their yard and believed them to be stray cats, so they brought them into TRACS.

"I realized that they were our kittens after I had looked them over once they were brought in," Thorpe said. "The people that brought them in didn't even know that they were the missing kittens, they just thought they were strays."

She said the kittens were in pretty good shape and had only been dumped in the woods for one day, so they were able to make it out pretty healthy.

"They were of course hungry," Thorpe said. "The person that found them had fed them canned beans and franks because they didn't have any cat food at their house."

Thorpe said that charges are scheduled to be filed by the end of the week and at that time there will be more information available as to the individuals involved and what exactly the charges are.