It is not okay for cats to kill all the neighborhood birds.

[NickB79]

82. She stated she notified the owners multiple times previously

And they did nothing about the issue. She gave them more than enough warning and chances to rectify the situation.

She also stated that the owners would have to come pick up the cat and pay the $40 shelter fee, so that tells me she either notified the owners of what she did, or gave the shelter the relevant information so that the shelter could contact the owner.

Spin it all you want, but the fact is that the owners are ultimately responsible, and have no expectation of having their "property" remain in their possession when they allow it to wander God-knows-how-far from their property.

Like I said, in no way can what she did be construed as "stealing". Realistically, she removed a pet from a potentially hazardous environment and brought it somewhere safe. IMO, pet owners who allow their pets outdoors unsupervised are putting their pets in harm's way, and should be viewed as irresponsible pet owners. If it were up to me, they'd have their pets removed from them for such infractions.

We have experienced our cats escaping, once. It was horrible, and I WISH someone would have caught our cats and brought them to a shelter. As it was, it took them 4 DAYS to find their way home. The reason it was so horrible is that we KNEW how dangerous it was for them to roam free, and actually CARED about our pets enough to recognize the danger. The owner in the OP apparently did not care enough to be concerned.

We are horrified when people "dispose" of unwanted pets by dumping them on the side of the road and driving away, but turn a blind eye when owners let their pets roam miles from home on their own.