Published: March 27, 2008 11:20 am            

Puppy stolen from Clark County Humane Association

Group asks for help in solving crime, recovering puppy and donation jar

Officials with the Clark County Humane Association and the Jeffersonville Police Department are asking for the public’s help in solving an Easter Sunday burglary at the shelter, during which items including charitable donations as well as a puppy were stolen.

Sometime early Sunday morning, an unknown person or people broke into the Clark County Humane Association, located at 2702 Middle Road in Jeffersonville, said JPD Detective Charles Thompson. The items stolen were about $100 from a donation jar for the shelter, a 3-month-old puppy named Charlotte, a leash, a collar and dog food, said association Director Phyllis Hilton. The burglar or burglars also stole $250 worth of drills and saws that area Boy Scouts, working to build a formal dog-washing area for the shelter, had left behind, Hilton said.

The burglary was discovered when one of the shelter employees reported to work Sunday. One of the shelter’s older labrador retrievers was waiting outside the property, as if looking for someone familiar, Hilton said.

“She (the employee) wondered how the dog got out,” Hilton said. “Then she went in and saw what it was like inside.”

The thief or thieves gained entry by using a hammer or similar tool to break a hole in a double-paned glass window, Hilton said. Once inside, they used a tool to remove the chained donation jar from atop a cat cage.

“Someone went to a lot of trouble to break in and also get the change jar,” Hilton said. “It seems like the work of professionals.

Thompson declined to discuss any suspects, but said officials are actively investigating.

Hilton said the loss of money and tools hits both the shelter and Boy Scouts, but the disappearance of Charlotte — a labrador mix — is especially harrowing.

“She is very, very sweet,” Hilton said. “She loves everybody. I hope she’ll be returned.”

The puppy has a rabies tag, No. 395, from Specialty Pets in Charlestown.

        

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