The North Peace SPCA is crying foul in the wake of a series of alleged thefts targeting their donation bins around Fort St. John.
The first occurred at Rivers Animal Hospital in early October. SPCA staff said they got a call from Rivers asking if the pet shelter had come and removed the bin. They hadn’t.
Soon after that incident, a large water jug used for collecting coins was stolen from the front of the shelter itself.
The SPCA building closes at 4, but the staff spends another half hour in the back, administering medications and making sure the animals have food and water before they leave.
“Somebody snuck in through the gate, saw that there was nobody in the office, and away it went,” said Candace Buchamer, supervisor of the North Peace SPCA.
Finally, Buchamer said she noticed just this past Wednesday that the two bins set up to collect donations at Paws and Claws pet store were also missing. She said she has no idea if the thefts are related, or who is responsible.
All together, Buchamer speculated that up to $225 went missing from the bins combined, but she said that they haven’t yet contacted police.
“We’re definitely very disheartened by it, but we don’t have anything to tell them other than they went missing,” she said.
Buchamer is warning people as much as she can that anyone collecting money with SPCA bins is not acting on behalf of the North Peace branch, and ask that police be called.
More than the amount of money stolen, what bothers her is the principle of it: “It doesn’t matter if it’s an SPCA or a children’s charity – you wouldn’t take the hospital foundation bins or the nursing moms’ little bottles. What’s the difference? You’re still taking from those in need.”
The missing funds were not earmarked for any particular projects – which is exactly what made them so valuable to the SPCA, Buchamer said.
“If we needed an emergency surgery for somebody, instead of approaching the public to fundraise for it, it gives us that much money to put towards it right off the bat,” she said. “Or maybe we have a water main break and we need to pay our plumber. We have all the same expenses as everybody else does.”
However, Buchamer said that so far, the reaction from public has been strongly empathetic.
“There’s enough help available in our community to people who need assistance that it shouldn’t have to come to taking from a charity,” she said.
peacereporter@ahnfsj.ca
