The TRACS shelter in Thompson Falls had three kittens stolen from its facility late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

TRACS President Wanda Thorpe said that when workers arrived Friday morning, they found a sliding door and a window opened and all of the kennels for the cats open as well. After they were able to round up the cats they discovered that the three kittens and possibly a cat carrier were taken.

"All of the kennels were open and the cats were let out," Thorpe said. "All of the other cats were found, but three kittens were taken."

She said that the shelter has a lot of cat carriers, so they still aren't certain that one has been taken, but it is a possibility since it hasn't turned up yet.

However, while nothing else was stolen or damaged. Thorpe said she just wants the kittens back.

"I'm very, very worried about them," she said. "One of them, we had since it was two weeks old and the other two were already adopted and were just waiting to be neutered."

Thorpe said that right now the Sanders County Sheriff's are following up on a couple of leads, but they don't have anything really secure or sound.

She said the Marvin Fund of Montana, an organization set up for researching animal cruelty cases, has given TRACS $500 to use as a reward for information about the kittens.

"If someone has enough information they will get an award if it helps lead to an arrest," she said. "People can report information anonymously as well if they want to."

Two of the kittens are male and about eight weeks old. They're light gray tabby cats and brothers. The other kitten is female and also about eight weeks old. She has no tail and is gray with tabby spots on her head, back and above her tail."

"I can't emphasize how worried I am about them," Thorpe said. "I just want them to be returned to us."

She said the two male kittens had already been adopted and they were just waiting to get the kittens neutered before they went to their new home.

"It is going to be really difficult to call those people who went about getting a pet the right way, that their pet was stolen," she said.

Thorpe said that if anyone has any information about the burglary or knows the whereabouts of the three kittens to call her home line at 827-3098. The can also call the TRACS office at 827-8722 or the Sanders County Sheriff's Office.