The La Plata County Humane Society was broken into sometime Tuesday night, with an unknown suspect breaking the glass door of the animal shelter and stealing donation money.

“We’re all shaken up here,” said Liz Shank, assistant director of the Humane Society. “We all kind of feel a little violated.”

Shank said she arrived to the shelter at 1111 South Camino del Rio on Wednesday morning to find the front glass door completely shattered. She said it appeared the person used a rock.

The suspect then went into the shelter and broke the cash register. But Shank said all the money in the cash register is stored in a safe at night.

Then, the suspect stole all of the cash out of the donation box and left. Curiously, Shank said, the person did not take an iPad on the front desk.

“It looks like all they needed was fast cash,” she said. “It looks like they came in, took what cash they could, and then left.”

Humane Society staff first went to check on the animals and found none of the cats or dogs had been disturbed.

Shank said video surveillance cameras inside the shelter were not working properly, so it’s doubtful an image of the break-in was caught.

Brice Current, deputy chief of the Durango Police Department, said investigators will check with neighboring businesses to see if they captured any helpful images to track down the suspect.

“We’ll see if we can track something down that way,” he said.

Shank said that despite the ordeal, the shelter would open at noon Wednesday.

Between the broken glass door and cash register, Shank estimated about $1,000 in damages. She was unsure how much money was in the donation box that the suspect stole.

The best way to help, Shank said, would be donations for the Humane Society, which can be made at https://lpchumanesociety.org or by visiting the shelter.

jromeo@durangoherald.com