Scrooge takes kitten from shelter

Submitted photo##Homeward Boun Pets is seeking information on San Diego, shown here, who was set to be a Christmas present until the kitten went missing.

Some Scrooge stole San Diego.

San Diego, a multicolored, 10-week-old kitten, went missing from the Homeward Bound Pets shelter sometime before closing Monday. Shelter workers noticed his absence when they arrived Tuesday morning.

They looked everywhere, said Executive Director Dawn Witt, but he was nowhere to be found. "If he was hiding someplace, he would have come out by now to eat or use the litter box," she said.

San Diego couldn't have left on his own, as the shelter has a double-door system designed to foil escapees.

Shelter workers and volunteers were stunned and upset about the theft. So was the grandmother who had picked him out as a Christmas present for her 6-year-old grandson.

San Diego is a lively little boy who arrived with 10 other kittens rescued by a man in Dundee.

Then five weeks old, the kittens were sickly, but shelter workers were able to nurse nine of the 11 back to health. They were fixed and given shots, then put up for adoption.

Six kittens were adopted right away. When the grandmother came in, she fell in love with San Diego.

The paperwork was done and the adoption fee paid. All the woman had to do was pick the kitten up right before Christmas.

But someone got there first.

"Why would anyone take a kitten right before Christmas?" Witt wondered.

She said her greatest concern is for the welfare of San Diego. She hopes the thief will give him a loving home, appropriate shelter and good food.

Anyone who can provide information about the kitten's whereabouts should call 971-237-1604.

"No questions asked," Witt said. "We just want to know."