ESCONDIDO: Humane Society hit twice by burglars

Animal shelter in Rancho Santa Fe also targeted

By SARAH GORDON - Staff Writer | Thursday, January 8, 2009 5:07 PM PST ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Burglars hit the Escondido Humane Society twice this week, taking $1,400 in cash and checks and damaging property, shelter officials said Thursday.

In between the Saturday and Tuesday night break-ins at the facility on east Valley Parkway, someone broke into the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe on Sunday night and took $1,500 in cash and checks.

Escondido police Lt. Craig Carter said Escondido and sheriff's detectives had spoken, but had not determined whether the crimes were related.

The same person probably did visit the Escondido shelter twice, Carter said.

"If you're successful once, you go back and get in again," he said.

In the first Escondido burglary, sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning, someone broke into the Escondido shelter, opened a register and got away with cash and checks, shelter spokeswoman Katie Woosley said. Police were able to recover little evidence Sunday morning, she said.

The stolen money represented adoption fees and donations to the shelter, which houses more than 100 animals, Woosley said.

"I find it callous that someone could take away from the animals who have no say in it," Woosley said. "They've been through so much, and they're the ones who have been taken from."

No alarm sounded in Saturday night's break-in, but Tuesday night at 11:24 p.m., the shelter's alarm was activated, Carter said. An officer who arrived at 11:33 p.m. found nobody there.

Tuesday's thief smashed an empty cash register worth $300, but left without taking anything, Woosley said.

On Wednesday morning, the shelter's adoption center was temporarily closed and animals relocated to other parts of the building while police investigated, Woosley said.

Carter said the thief probably entered through the roof. He said a detective was reviewing a surveillance tape and he hoped to release a suspect description.

Since the second break-in, shelter personnel have taken measures to secure the facility, Woosley said, declining to detail the measures.

The Escondido Humane Society is a nonprofit group that has contracts for animal control with Escondido, San Marcos and Poway, and with the Rincon and Pala Indian reservations. Woosley said the stolen money would not immediately take away from animal care, but it will be difficult to replace.

"It's a hard time in this economy and we have to work really hard to raise money for animals here," she said.

Contact staff writer Sarah Gordon at (760) 740-3517 or sgordon@nctimes.com.