I was truly saddened to hear about poor Toothless and the little boy who loved him and lost him in such a tragic way. It is hard to understand how neighbor could be so cruel. And how a 'animal shelter' employee could be so careless. I hope when, and if, they ever get another cat they put a chip in him so this horrible event cannot be repeated. I wish all the shelters could be 'no-kill' also....so this heartbreaking chain of events would never happen. Jessie Maybe this 'animal shelter' woman should look for another job... And the neighbor should be fined. They murdered Toothless.

If anything the shelter should at least offer to replace the cat at no cost, and let him pick it out after all we are talking about an 8 year old child who just lost his pet out of no fault of his own. There are so many animals that need homes, good homes so why not save another cat from the fate that toothless faced and died from. Everyone tried to do the right thing here with the exception of the lying neighbor who should have been honest from the get go. Shame on the neighbor for that.

I realize everybody makes mistakes, but seriously, this was a mistake that NEVER should have been made. I don't care if the person responsible to put a note on the cage was busy training someone or not, she should have stopped right then and made sure that note was securely attached. I suppose to shelter workers and non-animal lovers it's easy enough to say "I'm sorry" and move on. But an "I'm sorry" to a little boy who just lost his beloved cat, his best friend, is just not enough. Unfortunately there is NO remedy to this situation - the cat is dead! Someone needs to be fired at the very least!

Although this was in the 10/6/12 "Post Register" (Idaho Falls, ID), I'd like to know if there had been any follow-up with this young man. To me, a verbal apology is simply not adequate. This young man should have the grown-ups demonstrate they truly are sorry for their negligence. Let's not get a kid started with anger at such a young age.