A well-known animal adoption service in Montreal’s West Island says it has been robbed.
Anne Dubé, founder of Rosie Animal Adoption, said she came home from a weekend away and discovered someone had broken into her Pincourt office.
Three Dell laptop computers were stolen, along with $300 in cash.
“I wanted to stand and cry because there’s so much work on those computers,” Dubé told Global News.
The office is in the basement of her home.
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She said the thieves ripped off a screen and climbed in through a window.
She added it would have been hard for them not to realize they were robbing a charity.
“There’s pictures of Rosie’s, there’s calendars of Rosie’s. There’s everything of Rosie’s. How could somebody do this to us?” she asked.
Nobody was home at the time.
Dogs awaiting adoption live in foster homes around the West Island.
Dubé’s said the computers were full of vital adoption information.
There are hard copies of some of the lost data, but it will now have to be manually re-entered from binders into new computers.
Volunteers will have to work on that instead of helping dogs get adopted.
“This week, we’ve done no adoptions, no surrenders,” Dubé said.
“All we’re doing is trying to get everything back together.”
Dubé will be installing an alarm system, changing the door and said computers won’t be kept in the office anymore.
“There’s not going to be anything worth stealing here anymore,” she said.
She said police told her there isn’t much hope of nabbing the thieves and with so many people coming in and out of the office, fingerprinting won’t help.
The only other option is to watch for the stolen computers in pawn shops and online.
Dubé said she is just focusing on getting back to work.
“We’re going to look for donations, of course, we need donations just to keep going every day with all the dogs coming in,” she said.
Donations can be made on the organization’s website, or in person at the Beaconsfield Pet Fair.