BAXTER — Heartland Animal Rescue Team (HART) was vandalized early Tuesday morning with the words “Killers” and “U Kill” spray-painted on the building.
Baxter Police Chief Jim Exsted said someone broke into the HART building and did extensive property damage. Exsted said the suspect also released all the dogs that were in the impound area of the animal rescue shelter.
Fortunately, with the help of one of the impound dogs — a pit bull named “Angel” — all the dogs, but one were rescued and brought back to HART.
Exsted said around 1 a.m., an officer located a stray dog at Dellwood Drive and Wise Road and when transporting it to HART, the officer found that the building had been burglarized.
“This does not appear to be a random act,” said Exsted. “The clues lead us to believe that the suspect had a specific intent behind this whole incident.”
Exsted said all but one dog was found and police plan to talk with the missing dog owner.
Donna Wambeke, HART executive director, said HART has had people threaten the organization before, but no one has ever followed through on their threats.
“It did not surprise me,” Wambeke said when she got the call about the vandalism. “I had a conversation with a dog owner yesterday (Monday) who was not cooperative.”
Wambeke said there was a dog that was impounded on a 10-day hold for biting a child. Wambeke said the owner never came forward until Monday, after police gave HART the paperwork for the dog to be euthanized. Wambeke said the owner had to pay a $600 impound fee, or $50 a day, for the dog to be released and they would have to go through the proper channels.
Wambeke said there were eight dogs in the impound area at HART. The impound area is where the dogs at large are housed. Wambeke said there were around 50 animals total in the building, but the other animals were left in their kennels.
After seeing all the damage that was done, Wambeke said she is pleased that none of the animals were injured.
“You can fix the building,” said Wambeke. “But you can’t replace the animals.”
Wambeke said they named the pit bull “Angel” on Tuesday.
“When all the dogs got outside Angel kept them all corralled up the best she could,” said Wambeke. “And she was protective when the officers came in. The other dogs ranged in size from a pug to a lab.”
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851. Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jennewsgirl.
Comments (21)
Add commentHow mean..
This is so sad! I can imagine how scared the animals were.
That was just mean!!
Hopefully the person or persons have the money to pay for the damages!!
As someone who doesn't like Pit Bulls,
all I can say is "Holy Smokes". I guess it really isn't always the breed, but the way they are raised! Angel indeed.
There is a reason
I find homes for the dogs I work with...bully breeds. I will never bring one there because they aren't a no kill shelter! However, that doesn't give someone the right to vandalize the place. Contact another organization to take care of those breeds. There are plenty of other places in MN that will take them. Any time you find a bully breed abused or stranded please call them first, not HART.
Sick !!!
My stomach turned at just reading the headline for this story.
HART is such a well run asset to this area, is staffed by caring folks who love animals, and is a source of years of companionship and love to so many of us who have adopted from them.
I'm stopping in there today with a donation of time and $$.
Poor animals!
What a hero Angel is. I hope the villian is caught. Hart does all they can to save and protect animals and they deserve the communities support. How terrified the dogs must have been. I pray whoever did this feels remorse.
Mean
Who would do that to an organization that takes care of those poor animals.
update on home page
there has been an arrest!
jennewsgirl A Brainerd woman was arrested Tuesday in connection with the HART burglary and property damage. The missing dog also was located.
aslo Hart did not say
aslo Hart did not say anything to me about her saving these dogs or that she even made the front page of the paper and when i called to ask why they did not tell me this when i came to identify her they were very rude and could care less about what i was saying. this breaks my heart that this one lady there has been so rude to me every time i have talked to her. i can not help that their fees are too high for me, and wish i could get her out.
sarahlarson
Aside from the fact that you posted the same message 8 times, and then slammed the very organization that allegedly owns your dog, there is a thing called pet responsibility. I don't know what circumstances were involved in you losing this dog, but $135 is a small price to pay for negligence.
i did not slam the
i did not slam the organization at all, i just said one lady was rude to me more than once.and i didnt know i posted it more than once until after the fact n then couldnt figure out how to get them off, and u are right u do not know y she is there. i have had issues with neighbor kids coming to play with her when we are not home and being that she is so friendly she will wonder if left off her chain with the gate left open. and im sorry but i work as much as i can to not be on welfare with three kids and every penny i make goes to bills, food, and medication for my 11 month old who had surgery recently. im a single mom who tries to do the best i can with what i have, n that may not be much to you but its everything to me, its electricity, water, diapers, dinner, and much more. plz think about that before u judge me........
Walk a mile in someones shoes
I say until you have walked a mile in someones shoes I wouldn't be saying a thing, cause that is just it you do not know the circumstances. I personal know Sarah and she is a very nice person. $135.00 is a lot of money and not to many people have this laying around (living pay check to pay check) now a days.
Sarah I hope you get your sweet girl back. Good Luck!!!
at jen
thanks:) she is a very good dog and we love her ad miss her!
Dont have a dog then
Sorry but if you cant afford a dog then why get one? Not only does a dog cost money in terms of buying it food and what not, but unexpected expenses are apart of responsible ownership. If your dog was injured, sick and needed medical attention would you be able to afford it? People need to ask themselves these questions before getting a pet.. if more people realized the importance of responsible pet ownership, we probably wouldn't need shelters in the first place.
at sarahlarson
If your dog wonders away when left off the chain it might be in the dogs best interest to not be let off the chain when it isn't being supervised. Pets should be treated like members of the family. Bring them in. :)
People can give me all
the thumbs down they want. I try to educate people of different courses of action that can be taken to give dogs a second chance. My dog came from a fight ring, you really think if he was found in Brainerd and brought to HART that he would be alive and loved today? They have so many dogs to try and take care of on a limited budget already. All I am saying is take harder to deal with animals to a different source so the highly adoptable dogs can go there and find homes. This way they don't need to worry about putting animals down so much and the other dogs can get the training they need. The homes these dogs go to are also more highly interviewed etc to make sure they aren't brought back. If HART isn't flooded with so many animals we don't need to worry about the fact that they are a kill shelter because it wouldn't happen as often.
cowgirl
Did you attend the Hoofin it for HART walk a couple weekends ago? Did you raise/donate any money for the event? Its easy to look down on an orginazation when your not trying to contribute to the cause. HART has had plenty of pitbulls, if they were to put every pitbull down, do you think they would be on the adoption page/floor? Temperment, health and other various reasons go into deciding whether a dog is adoptable. (I do not work for this place but its probably a good assumption) Any breed of dog can bite or be aggressive..if a golden retriever walked in there with a bad attitude towards humans and there was no way around it, im sure that golden wouldnt be adoptable, its a liability.
As Executive Director of HART
As Executive Director of HART I would like to thank everyone for their support over the past few days. Things will get back to normal and we will move on with helping animals.
I would like to address a couple of issue that have been posted. First of all HART is not breed specific when it comes to adopting dogs. Many of the bully breeds have been adopted from HART and will continue to be. I personally have adopted them and love my boys. Every dog that is placed on HART's adoption floor is temperment tested, heartworm tested and vaccinated. HART does not have a specific time we hold animals. If an animal has not been adopted after a few months we will work with other shelters, rescues and breed rescues to find that animal a home. HART euthanizes dogs only for temperment or health reasons. And if the health can be fixed we many times do that. I wish the end result was as successful for cats but do to the huge cat overpopulation it is not. Spay and neuter EVERYTHING.
The issue with the owner reclaiming her dog needs to be worked out with the city of Brainerd and HART.
Again thank you for your support. Stop out and visit, the animals always enjoy the company.
Donna Wambeke
Executive Director
As Executive Director of HART
As Executive Director of HART I would like to thank everyone for their support over the past few days. Things will get back to normal and we will move on with helping animals.
I would like to address a couple of issue that have been posted. First of all HART is not breed specific when it comes to adopting dogs. Many of the bully breeds have been adopted from HART and will continue to be. I personally have adopted them and love my boys. Every dog that is placed on HART's adoption floor is temperment tested, heartworm tested and vaccinated. HART does not have a specific time we hold animals. If an animal has not been adopted after a few months we will work with other shelters, rescues and breed rescues to find that animal a home. HART euthanizes dogs only for temperment or health reasons. And if the health can be fixed we many times do that. I wish the end result was as successful for cats but do to the huge cat overpopulation it is not. Spay and neuter EVERYTHING.
The issue with the owner reclaiming her dog needs to be worked out with the city of Brainerd and HART.
Again thank you for your support. Stop out and visit, the animals always enjoy the company.
Donna Wambeke
Executive Director
morquinn, sharepoint, and donna 23
Very good points. I have never adopted from HART, but have from shelters in the south. I have donated to HART, and will continue to support them when possible. Keep up the good work!!
morquinn
I actually volunteered at HART when I was younger walking, bathing, cleaning kennels etc. I am not putting them down. Do I like the fact they are not a no kill shelter? Of course not. Mainly because I have helped dogs that were supposed to be killed. I was simply suggesting that people look in to breed specific rescues like I did. I used to foster and retrain bully breeds and find them fitting homes for the specific dog. It just makes it easier on a small town shelter that doesn't have the room for so many dogs nor the staff to be working with troublesome dogs.
Another suggestion
For those who would like to help HART, consider becoming a foster family. Some dogs and cats do not do well in a shelter setting. Get them out and into a home and their personalities come alive. This makes for a much more adoptable pet. Do you get a better first impression from a dog who sulks at the back of his kennel, throws himself at the door or jumps all over you as soon as the door is open, OR from a dog who greets you with a wagging tail and appropriate energy level? Good foster homes mean that HART can take more pets and get more pets adopted out.
We may not like that HART isn't a no kill shelter, but it's what our town has. And they do the very best they can with the resources available.
But this person broke in and vandalized the place because they wanted their dog back. Hence, the one dog that was missing....there's a big clue as to who did it and why. The spray paint and vandalism and letting the other dogs loose was just a cover up.
And as for Sarah, I hope you can work it out. She sounds like a good dog (I'm guessing Angel is your dog?). But I do fear what would happen if the neighbor kids let her out again and she got hit by a car? Would you be able to afford the vet care? Or would she have to suffer in the back yard because you can't afford it? Perhaps, the kindest thing for Angel would be to find her a family with the resources to care for her in an emergency. She must be pretty special and a family would be lucky to have such a wonderful girl. But life on a chain in the back yard while no one is home is no life at all.