Should this cat be returned to the "owner"?

Well my question would be can they afford general vet care? Pets are expensive. I can understand not affording thousands of dollars in an emergency. But can the routine care be taken care of easily? If so sure give the cat back. If not then no.

Nope, they do NOT deserve to get this cat back.

Why, because they let it go back outside?
In a lot of places, people feel it's cruel to keep a cat indoors all the time.

Lot of unknown info here.

Would the cat be better off euthanized rather than returned to the owner? Ah...probably not. I suppose we can all assume it would be adopted.

I don't know what the estimate was to treat this cat. Maybe all they needed to do was cut the shaft, pull it through, put in a tube, antibiotics and flush it for a week. I don't know if the owner was unwilling to pay anything. One article said she was feeding it Fancy Feast, which is not the cheapest food on the market.

My biggest question is whether there is going to be anything done about the suspected animal abuser. If this kid is shooting animals, no way you can let pets out in that neighborhood.

She surrendered the cat, she doesn't deserve it back IMO.

I would only give the cat back to the "owner" if the only other alternative was euthanasia. Even then I wouldnt feel that good about it - making a 6 year old happy is not a wise basis upon which to "award" an animal. The fact that means the most to me is that for whatever reason (I dont care if its can't or won't) the woman was unable to provide veterinary care for their animal. If you can not afford a pet emergency, you have no business having a pet because pets have emergencies. This woman has already proven that upon need of $$ for care, she cant/wont be there. I spent hundreds of dollars saving manytoes and his littermates as kittens, and just recently a ridiculous amount on Niles when he decided to get Meningitis...if there is no way she can pay for proper care, there is no way she should get the animal back. Getting it back is almost like saying "You can refuse to take care of it, we'll do that for you and give the animal back no questions". Terrible lesson to teach to someone like this....

I think the person that found the cat should get it back, if she had the money she probably would have gotten the cat seen about. Just because she could not afford it doesn't mean she didn't love it.

I think that someone should search for the person who shot the cat too. And that person should be punished.

I find myself reacting purely emotionally here, because a young child is involved. After more than 3 years, we gave our ZsaZsa back to her original owners on December 26. They had been neighbors, and after they moved away, she kept returning "home", which was very dangerous, as she was traveling some high-traffic areas. The family's former landlord took her in simply to prevent her from being run over, but he died, and his wife moved, so she ended up with us. Her original family just moved to another country, and the little boy was so upset about leaving her behind that we gave her back. Legally (and emotionally), she had become our cat, as we had been paying the food and vet's bills over an extended period.
In this case, it appears that a young woman gave a presumably homeless cat a home. She may have tried to remain emotionally detached, as the cat's previous owners could have raised claims at any time, or she may have been thinking of the cat's emotions. The cat was seriously injured, and a single mother of just 28 may have feared/known that she couldn't afford the costs of such extensive medical care, and thus surrendered the cat. Her daughter is obviously attached to the cat, and vice-versa. I simply find it emotionally cruel to say that the woman didn't pay the bills, so the cat shouldn't be returned. While every effort should be made to find the cat's original owners, and to determine whether she was sorely missed, or abandoned, I think this mother/daughter team should be given the first option to adopt, should the cat be free for adoption.

Yep, that is the way that I feel too.