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YORKTON — The question for staff at the Yorkton Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals today is literally who let the dogs out.
Tuesday morning the long-running animal shelter in the city was broken into, reports Joan Gabriel with the local SPCA.
“They broke all the locks on the gates and cut through the fence,” she told Yorkton This Week.
While the vandalism can be fixed it was actually not Gabriel’s greatest concern.
“Aside from the material damage they traumatized our animals,” she said.
And, making the incident worse, the vandals also took one of the dogs which had been under SPCA care.
“Hopefully they care for him,” said Gabriel.
Obviously too, they want the missing dog back and in care.
Gabriel said they may have been lucky only one dog was taken, as there was evidence at least one more had a makeshift leash made from a ‘bunny hug’ found at the SPCA.
However before another dog could be taken the kennel cleaner arrived early for work, actually seeing the stolen dog being dragged through the fence and hearing it yelping, said Gabriel, adding their initial thought was staff had forgot to lock up.
When the facility doors were opened Gabriel said dog pens were opened, mixing dogs that didn’t necessarily appreciate being mixed – thus the trauma – but fortunately no serious injuries occurred.
The RCMP have been called, and Gabriel said they will be contacting local veterinarians to be on the look-out for Koda – the stolen dog. He is neutered and micro-chipped and if anyone sees him, or has information on the break-in and theft call the police with the information.
Now Gabriel said they also have to deal with added costs -– fixing the fencing so the dogs have a place to run, getting new locks, and more security.
