Vandalism

Fight on down to the shelter.

Police need information to find New Braunfels Animal Shelter vandals

Web Posted: 07/13/2007 07:16 PM CST

Itza Gutierrez
KENS 5 Eyewitness News

One year ago this weekend, the New Braunfels Humane Society suffered a huge loss when burglars ransacked the building and killed several animals.

The mess is gone but the memories of the brutal crime are vivid, and now, a large reward is being offered for information about the crime.

With open arms Billie Zercher and the humane society welcome those who can't fend for themselves, but the hearts of employees are still sensitive to the cruel crime these animals witnessed.

"Lots of stress, heart ache … it was a very terrible time that we do not want to repeat ever again," Zercher said.

On the night of July 15, 2006, burglars broke into the safe haven, vandalized the building and terrorized the animals.

Several pets were killed, several more were injured, and thousands of dollars in damage was left behind by at least two suspects.

"What we need is a little guidance, a little tip, any information," said Det. Jesse Villarreal, with the New Braunfels Police Department.

Specifically, police says they need names.

"Even if it's a partial nickname, a street name, first name, last name, just any type of lead," Villarreal said.

On this first anniversary, the humane society still needs volunteers, donations and families willing to adopt four-legged friends.

The only thing new is the alarm system that's active and armed to keep trouble away.

Meantime, the pets remain in cages for their safety, while Zercher hopes the suspects are put behind bars for everyone's peace of mind.

"These people do not belong on the street,” Zercher said. “If they can do that to here, I can't imagine what they can do to anybody else.”

If you have any information, call the Comal County Crime Stoppers at (830) 620-TIPS (8477). If your anonymous information leads to a suspect's arrest, you could earn a guaranteed $1,000 reward, but the reward is only available until Friday, July 20.

LCRA Employees' Unites Charities and Personal Donations

Reward increased in Humane Society vandalism

By Ron Maloney
The Herald-Zeitung

Published August 2, 2006

With a stalled investigation into who vandalized the local animal shelter more than two weeks ago, the reward for information in the case has been increased one last time.

Comal County/New Braunfels Crime Stoppers Chairwoman Teresa Nitschke said donations have enabled the organization to increase the reward to $6,500 for information in the case.

The reward is the largest ever offered by Crime Stoppers for information in a local crime.

“We have up to $1,000 in our reward, and we have $5,500 in donations as a supplemental reward,” Nitschke said.

If no one collects the reward, Nitschke said it would go back to the donors.

“They can do anything they want with it,” Nitschke said. “We’re not going to keep it.”

In a wealth of community support, more than $15,000 and thousands of pounds of pet food also was donated to the animal shelter after the weekend break-in where in animals were released from cages, a couple of the shelter’s staff pets were killed and the food supply was reportedly contaminated.

New Braunfels police Det. Jesse Villarreal said Tuesday he had nothing new to report in the investigation — in spite of the record-setting reward.

“We have not received a single phone call,” Villarreal said. “We’re still at square one.”

Comal County/New Braunfels Crime Stoppers is offering its reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of whoever vandalized the New Braunfels Humane Society sometime after the shelter closed July 15 and before they opened July 16. Call 1-800-640-8422 or 620-8477. Callers do not have to reveal their identity to collect a reward.

To donate to the New Braunfels Humane Society or to adopt an animal, visit www.humanesocietynewbraunfels.com or call 629-5287.

HELPING THE SHELTER

The Herald-Zeitung

Published July 23, 2006

Jeff Kunkel, president of the New Braunfels Evening Lions Club, presents a check for $1,000 to Cheryl Krueger, director of the New Braunfels Humane Society, to help the animal shelter recover from its recent break-in and vandalism. Also shown are Billie Zercher, Humane Society assistant director, and Lion Bryan Feltner.

More than $15,000 donated to shelter

By Jessica Sanders
The Herald-Zeitung

Published July 21, 2006

Despite being vandalized just days earlier, the New Braunfels Humane Society is back in the black.

Police are still investigating the animal shelter’s Saturday night break-in in which the building was damaged and several animals were either injured or killed.

Throughout the week, the shelter has received an outpouring of donations to replace what was lost.

Cheryl Krueger, the shelter’s executive director, said they have received more than $15,000 in donations, as well as thousands of pounds of pet food and cat litter.

“I would like to thank the community for the overwhelming response,” she said. “It’s very important to me, the board and the employees that the public knows we’re financially OK.”

The donations have replaced the food and supplies that were lost, and the money is more than enough to cover repairs, she said.

“Donations are still welcome,” she said. “But additional money will go toward our new location.”

On Thursday, the New Braunfels Police Department subpoenaed the Herald-Zeitung for information about a posting that appeared earlier in the morning on the paper’s blog site, www.beheardblog.com.

The posting, which has been removed at the request of police, gave detailed information about the shelter vandalism. Police thought the information could provide a lead to a perpetrator in the case.

The subpoena included a request for the anonymous blogger’s Internet Protocol (IP) address. The Herald-Zeitung complied with the request based on advice from Southern Newspapers Inc. company attorney Charlie Daughtry.

Investigations conducted by the newspaper traced the IP address back to an Austin law firm.

Reached late in the day, New Braunfels police Detective Jesse Villarreal told the Herald-Zeitung, “We have reviewed the information, and we do not believe it will lead to any suspects in the investigation.”

Without any new leads, the case’s status has not changed since the beginning of the week.

“We’re still where we were from the beginning,” he said. “Maybe now, with the reward Crime Stoppers is offering, that might help.”

Comal County Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest or indictment of people involved in the crime. Call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-640-8422 or 620-8477. Callers do not have to reveal their identity.

To donate to the New Braunfels Humane Society or to adopt an animal, visit www.humanesocietynewbraunfels.com or call 629-5287.

Save

Record reward offered in shelter probe

By Jessica Sanders
The Herald-Zeitung

Published July 20, 2006

A record-breaking reward is being offered to help catch the subjects who vandalized the New Braunfels Humane Society on Saturday.

Teresa Nitschke, chairwoman of Comal County Crime Stoppers, said a reward up to $5,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and indictment of people involved.

“This is the largest we’ve ever offered to pay out,” she said.

Nitschke said that four donors have added to Crime Stoppers’ original reward of $1,000. Others have expressed interest in increasing the reward even more.

Humane Society Executive Director Cheryl Krueger said she has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of community support.

“I’m in shock, this is amazing,” she said, after learning of the increased reward. “But I’m not surprised, not after seeing how many people have come in and said they were upset that someone could do that to animals.”

New Braunfels Police Detective Jesse Villarreal said vandals broke into the facility at 1920 Kuehler Ave. on Saturday night or early Sunday morning. They ransacked the facility and killed three animals.

In the last few days, Krueger said, volunteers have spent hours cleaning and others have donated thousands of dollars to the shelter.

“We’ve got 25,000 pounds of dog food, 6,000 to 8,000 pounds of kitty litter and lots of cleaning supplies,” she said.

She said that all the dogs have been taken to the Humane Society of Bexar County in San Antonio, located at 4804 Fredericksburg Rd. They were moved to make it easier for New Braunfels shelter workers to clean and repair their facility.

“(The dogs) will be adopted out from the San Antonio facility, which will help us out,” she said.

Krueger said that plenty of cats and kittens are available for adoption at the New Braunfels Humane Society, which reopened Wednesday.

Residents donate items to Humane Society

Photo by David Ingram

By Jessica Sanders
The Herald-Zeitung

Published July 19, 2006

Trouble is one lucky dog.

The 7-month-old Labrador mix was one of the animals at the New Braunfels Humane Society to escape death or injury at the hands of vandals Saturday night.

But all that seems a distant memory to the dog who bounced around her kennel Tuesday afternoon, ecstatic to see a parade of volunteers — many carrying dog food.

“I love animals and I hate seeing on (TV) that people do nasty things to them,” said volunteer Taylor Devillier, 13. “When I heard that something like that happened in the local area, I really wanted to help.”

According to police, the vandals broke into the shelter between 9 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday. They killed and injured animals, ransacked the facility and destroyed thousands of pounds of food and cat litter.

Theresa Nitschke, chairman of the Comal County Crime Stoppers, said the group is offering a reward up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest and indictment of people responsible for the crime. Crime Stoppers can be reached at 1-800-640-8422 or 620-8477.

New Braunfels police Detective Jesse Villarreal said because of the investigation he cannot release the number of animals killed and injured. A few pieces of evidence are being processed, but most evidence was destroyed.

“I can confirm that none of the animals were poisoned,” he said.

He said that the entire supply food was replaced as a precautionary measure, because the shelter did not want to risk feeding the remaining animals food that may have been contaminated.

Fortunately, the shelter has been overwhelmed with donations and support.

“I would say we’ve replaced the 5,000 pounds of food that we lost, and then some,” said Billie Zercher, the facility’s assistant director.

Donated food fills all the available storage space, and a donated storage bin has been added behind the building. Another storage room houses a tower of cleaning supplies about 7 feet high. Extra supplies will go to the San Marcos Humane Society, which lent food to the New Braunfels shelter during the weekend.

Cheryl Krueger, the shelter’s executive director, said the outpouring of support has been amazing. People lined up throughout the day Tuesday to drop off donations, and phones were ringing off the hook.

“It’s been like this all day,” Krueger said, with tears in her eyes.

Kathy Pearce and her husband Craig said they couldn’t stay home after they heard what happened at the shelter. They spent Tuesday stockpiling pet food and helping with the cleanup effort.

“We read about this in the paper and said, ‘let’s go,’” she said. “Since we got here, there’s just been a continuing mass of people with donations and cleaning supplies.”

After a thorough cleaning by several volunteers, the New Braunfels Humane Society will reopen to the public today.

A handful of dogs and several cats and kittens are available for adoption. Villarreal also confirmed that Booger the Macaw parrot, a well-known permanent resident of the shelter, escaped harm. “He’s alive, alert and he will bite,” Villarreal said.

It won’t be easy for the Humane Society’s staff to forget the cruelty that took place this weekend. Krueger said she was not ready to talk about the injured animals, but confirmed that they were still receiving medical treatment at a veterinary facility.

“What we need now is for people to listen and hear if anybody is talking,” she said. “We want to catch the people who did this to our animals.”

Vandals leave shelter in desperate position

By Leigh Jones
The Herald-Zeitung

Published July 18, 2006

Cheryl Krueger alternated between smiling expressions of gratitude and floods of tears Monday as she stood in the reception area of the New Braunfels Humane Society Animal Shelter.

The heart-felt “thank-you’s” were directed to the citizens who brought car loads of pet food donations throughout the day. The tears were for the animals killed and maimed by vandals who broke in over the weekend and unleashed a torrent of destruction.

“It’s so hard,” Krueger said, her voice cracking under the strain of describing the situation. “I just can’t understand why anyone would want to do this to the animals. They basically destroyed the shelter.”

The suspects broke into the facility sometime between 9 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday. Not content with hurting the shelter’s four-legged residents, they also poisoned the food supply, contaminated the store of cat litter and defaced the rest of the shelter’s rooms and offices. Krueger, the facility’s executive director, estimated 5,000 pounds of food and 1,200 pounds of litter was destroyed.

Volunteers began cleaning up the mess first thing Sunday, but the shelter is expected to remain closed through today.

“Every surface has to be wiped down — cages, walls, floors, desks,” Krueger said. “And the remaining animals have to be bathed again.”

New Braunfels police Detective Jesse Villarreal, who is investigating the case, would not give any details as to the number of animals killed or injured, the agent used to poison the food or the nature of the damage done to the facility. He did verify the building was quite a mess.

“When I walked up, I just prayed that it was under construction or something. That’s how bad it was,” he said.

Although volunteers have made progress in their cleanup efforts, Krueger is asking for more volunteers today to give any time they can to help clean and ready the shelter to open Wednesday. In addition to manpower, the shelter needs donations of dog, puppy, cat and kitten food and cat litter to replace the stores staff members had to throw out. Cleaning supplies and cash donations also are desperately needed.

“So many people helped us during the hurricane evacuation situation. We just hope they’ll be generous again,” Krueger said.

The loss of supplies comes at a difficult time for the shelter. Every spare penny was being saved for their future new location, a dream that somehow seemed farther away Monday.

Although the board of directors has discussed potential new security measures, including an alarm system and video surveillance, they have not made any firm decisions yet.

“We’ve just never had anything like this happen before,” Krueger said. “It’s heart-wrenching. For someone to come in and do what they did ... it’s just unbelievable.”

HOW TO HELP
The New Braunfels Humane Society Animal Shelter needs the following items to help recover from this weekend’s vandalism:

Dog and cat food
Puppy and kitten food
Cat litter
Cleaning supplies
Cash donations
Volunteers willing to donate a few hours of “elbow grease” to help clean the building today

Donations can be dropped off at the shelter, located at 1920 Kuehler Ave., or at the Herald-Zeitung offices at 707 Landa St.