Mr. Kibbles has a big middle toe for you Christopher Cortes

Maybe Mr. Kibbles will know better the next time he's looking for a litter box. Christopher Cortes, 33, and wife, Iris Zuckerman, 33, were sentenced Thursday to 100 hours and 50 hours of community service, respectively, for snatching the black cat from their neighbor's home and leaving him in the Everglades (15 miles away) in February 2005.

Police said Cortes was upset the cat used the back of his new pickup truck as a litter box.

Cortes, a firefighter, and his wife had pleaded no contest to petty theft and declined comment after the hearing.

"That's what they get for taking an innocent cat," said the cat's owner, 12-year-old Maggie Leonard.

Leonard said Mr. Kibbles made his way back to his home two weeks later. She said she's disappointed in the couple, who were close friends of the family, adding that firefighters should be saving cats from trees, not stealing them.

- Associated Press May 2006