MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A Muskegon County animal shelter is picking up the pieces after a break-in over the weekend.
The thief stole about $100 and broke a window at the Muskegon Humane Society on Saturday.
“We noticed when we came in [Sunday morning] about 6 a.m. that the window was broken and of course our first thought was to run to the back and count all the animals and make sure nobody was harmed," said Executive Director Alexis Ogborn.
No animals were harmed, but the donation jar was missing.
"They just took the donation jar and ran," Ogborn said. "It would've had to have been someone who had been inside because the jar wasn't visible from the window, so they would've had to see that it was below the window.
The broken window will cost about $500 to replace, Ogborn says.
"My heart dropped," she said. "My first thought was just the animals. I mean I don't care, they can take anything from the office, but I definitely was worried something would've happened to the animals."
The shelter didn't have security cameras before the break-in, but they do now.
"We didn't think that something like this would ever happen to an animal shelter so it was definitely a wake-up call for us, but we got some really nice cameras now," Ogborn said.
For a place that runs entirely on donations to keep their operation going, they'll figure out a way to keep things business as usual.
"It's definitely hurtful," Ogborn says. "I mean, we care for about 550 animals annually, so our donations we use everything that we get. So something like that is unplanned and really hurtful."
Muskegon Township Police say they found some forensic evidence left behind at the scene that they believe could be related to the break-in. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Silent Observer at 231-72-CRIME.
