Pit bulls freed during second animal shelter break-in
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The first break-in occurred last month when dogs that had been quarantined, after being involved in a biting incident with a federal probation officer, were stolen from the shelter. The most recent break-in was discovered Thanksgiving morning by shelter employee Karla Fischbach. Anderson said only the kennel section had been invaded and there was no evidence anyone had tried to enter the shelter office.
There have been other intrusions with animals stolen this year, according to shelter officials, but Anderson is concerned the break-ins are escalating recently.
“It was the same thing,” Anderson said Friday, referring to the previous incident when the quarantined animals were removed. “No forced entry.”
Once again, Anderson was disturbed at the ease with which the intruders were able to invade the shelter.
“They can get in there,” she said. “They can just get in, they jump gates, they do whatever, and they get in there.”
According to Anderson, when Fischbach got to work Thanksgiving morning, being the only employee scheduled to work due to the holiday, she discovered a pit bull running loose inside the shelter fence, but outside the runs. The dog was bloody and looked as if it had been attacked. She soon found another pit bull loose, also bloody, and realized the two animals, which had been closed-off in separate areas, had been set loose and ended up in a fight.
“They had been fighting like crazy,” Anderson said. “They were all bloody, but nothing life-threatening.”
Fischbach was eventually able to coax the dogs back into their separate runs, something Anderson said represented quite a risk.
“It was very dangerous moving those injured pit bulls, I’ll tell you,” Anderson said. “When you move one the other one is apt to attack again.”
Once she got the dogs back in their runs, Fischbach investigated further and found another animal, a rottweiler, was missing from the shelter. Anderson feels the motive for this break-in, considering the type of breeds targeted, was to obtain animals for an illegal but still common activity in the region.
“We think probably it was a couple of guys who fight dogs,” Anderson said.
Anderson speculated the intruders got the rottweiler out, then made the mistake of trying to move the pit bulls at the same time when one got loose, resulting in the fight. At that point the culprits fled rather than try to separate the animals.
Though the main shelter gates to the outside are locked, the runs inside are not, according to Anderson, since this would make accessing the animals more difficult and normally should not be required. But Anderson now says the shelter may have to change some of its policies and increase security.
“Our plans are to get one of the fence companies to come down and fix those gates properly,” Anderson said, “and put razor wire across the top just like a prison fence.”
Still, Anderson isn’t sure even that will eliminate the problem.
“We’ll spend the money and do all that,” she said, “and we’ll walk in and there’ll be this huge hole just cut right out in our fence.”
The Humane Society is requesting the public help with this situation, asking anyone who has any information on the break-in to call McMinnville police or the shelter at 473-5720.