On the morning of Nov. 27, a Greenhill Humane Society employee noticed the glass front door of the building had been shattered, alerting them to a break in that occurred the night before.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Department received a call about the break in that morning at 8:41 a.m. “The only damage that was reported to us was the broken front door, and the only property that was reported to us to be stolen at this point was a donation box with some cash in it,” Police Services Lieutenant Tom Speldrich said.
No animals or humans were harmed by the break in, and afterwards the shelter continued business as usual by helping people and animals during their regular business hours.
The shelter normally operates seven days a week and prioritizes helping pets get returned to owners, adopting animals to loving homes and providing resources for the community such as pet food for individuals in need.
“We are not sure why this happened to our front lobby door, however our staff jumped into action to get it safely cleaned up and secured,” Humane Society Communications Officer Sarah Bouzad said.
Greenhill is currently seeking donations from the Eugene community to support front door repairs. On the day of the break in, the shelter’s Instagram page posted photos asking for donations on their website to support this cause.
“Estimates are around $2,500 for the door repair,” Bouzad said. “But we believe that the insurance will cover the cost beyond our $1,000 deductible.”
UO student and dog owner Alice Manchester’s reaction to the break in is that it was a “cruel” act, particularly because Greenhill runs off donations as a nonprofit and animals could be negatively affected if those donations are stolen.
“[The animals] rely on those donations and on that cash to keep them fed, bathed, up to date with their immunizations and other things they really need,” she said.
In the past month, there have been 126 instances of burglary and theft within Lane County, including the break in at Greenhill.
“Property crime is not particularly uncommon,” Speldrich said, “and this type of property crime where a business is broken into and property is stolen is not atypical.”
As of now there is no suspect information for the break in, and the Sheriff’s Department is asking for those with any information about the crime to contact them at (541) 682-4150.
Tamera has been at Greenhill since June. She is the animal that has been available for adoption at the center the longest. Greenhill Humane Society is the only animal shelter within the Eugene/Springfield area. Their mission is to provide care and shelter for animals, support and resources for people, and education to promote the humane treatment of animals. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)
