RICHMOND, Va. -- Staffers and volunteers are asking for the public's help to identify a "person of interest" captured on surveillance video breaking into an animal shelter on Richmond's Northside this week.
It happened at Richmond Animal Care and Control (RACC) at 1600 Chamberlayne Avenue Thursday evening, according to shelter officials.
"They smashed through the door at our rear entrance, riffled through admin offices, ripped apart cabinets in our veterinary spaces and stole a laptop, which had since been recovered," RACC officials posted on social media. "No animals were harmed or stolen."
Officials thanked Richmond Police for their quick response.
"We are thankful that no one was hurt, that our animals remained safe and we are hopeful that we can find the person responsible for ruining our day," officials wrote.
In addition to photos of the damage, shelter staffers posted photos of a "person of interest" and urged anyone who can identify him to call Detective Umbell at 804-646-3184 or Metro Richmond Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
"For goodness sakes, we are just trying to save animals and help people in the City, we don’t need more to worry about," officials wrote.
WATCH: Tour RACC Chamberlayne Avenue facility: 'We use every inch of this building'
Last June RACC Director Christie Chipps Peters told CBS 6 reporter Jake Burns that the shelter was “drowning.”
The issue at the time was twofold: a spike in the number — and condition — of animals coming into the facility, plus an aging building set to "expire" soon.
RACC moved into their current building in the early 2000s, after the Richmond SPCA built a full service humane center. Within two to three years from now, the facility will not pass state health and safety standards anymore, officials said.
Peters pointed out that multiple parts of the building where it is already functionally poorly.
Large dogs receive medical treatment on the floor while on a rope leash because they cannot fit a big enough table in the room. The intake room is way too small. They have only two isolation rooms, so quarantining animals with contagious diseases is difficult. The "office" for animal control officers is shared by all nine of them, and currently, they all share the room with a stray ferret that they found.
“We use every inch of this building — and hard," Peters said
RACC needs to build a new facility. The "pie in the sky" dream for Peters would be stand-alone adoption center that would be public facing. The old Chamberlayne location would be renovated for respite boarding and veterinary services.
"Our commitment is to save lives. It would be much easier and cheaper if we just said we were going to euthanize everything. But, that’s not what we should be doing, and that’s not what the community wants us to do. We’re all in this together," Peters said.
"If someone wins the lottery soon please buy us a new building," officials begged.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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