Donations re-energize vandalized animal rescue in North Seattle

Missy Young was on the verge of giving up animal-rescue work after vandals broke into her North Seattle shop, opened cages, stomped small rodents to death and stole some high-priced reptiles.

"Our job is really difficult to do on a day-to-day basis already," Young said. "And when we walked into this massacre, it was like the straw that broke the camel's back. I wanted to give up. I thought, 'this is too much.' "

But after news of the break-in at Animal Talk Rescue got out, the phone started ringing and people began dropping by. It was a trickle at first, but it quickly became an avalanche of assistance and support in the form of money, volunteer work and basic supplies.

One man walked into the shelter and wrote out a check for $5,000, Young said. He didn't wait around to be thanked. Another person drove up from Tacoma with the contents of his children's piggy bank. Others tucked $20 bills into the shop's door jambs. Responding to Young's plea for paper towels and bleach, donors have supplied Animal Talk Rescue with enough to last a year, she said. Young estimates the donations thus far total a few thousand dollars, in addition to the $5,000 check.

So much money has come in that Young will be able to take in about 200 cats from an Everett animal shelter that was planning to put them to death. "Because of all the human support, we're re-energized, pumped and ready to do more work," Young said Wednesday.

Young, a third generation animal lover who opened the nonprofit pet shop and no-kill animal shelter on Roosevelt Way Northeast in 1990, arrived Saturday to find someone had broken into the store during the night and let nearly all the animals out of their cages.

Some of the smaller creatures — the mice, rats and gerbils — appeared to have been deliberately stepped on. Others were killed by the nearly 50 cats also released. At least 25 animals were found dead, cats were injured, and dozens of animals were stolen or missing, including a bearded dragon and an iguana.

No arrests have been made, but Seattle police are investigating the break-in and rewards totaling $5,000 have been offered by Pasado's Safe Haven, The Humane Society for Seattle/King County and other animal-welfare organizations.

For the first few days after the break-in, Young said she and other store employees were overwhelmed with the clean-up work, the offers for help and with phone calls from those voicing their outrage.

"We had so many calls from people who were hysterical about what happened. We ended up having to be counselors," Young said.

Since then, things have settled down. Young has heard that her pet iguana — a vicious but beloved creature named Buddy — may have been found in Tacoma. She and a newly replenished army of volunteers have found nearly all of the escaped rodents, though they are still looking for two mice. Many cards and letters arriving at the shelter contain photographs of donor's pets along with checks. Some have been written on behalf of the pets.

"We've gotten tons of checks and letters from kitties to kitties," volunteer Cara Voelker said. "And if anybody is feeling depressed, they need to come in here because it's so sweet."

The shelter still needs additional supplies, such as 33-gallon garbage bags, rubber gloves, laundry detergent and ceramic cat bowls, as well as foster-family volunteers.

"I was devastated at first," Young said. "I felt it was my responsibility to take care of them [the animals that were killed and injured] and I failed."

But the donations mean their work can continue. "The more we have, the more animals we can shelter," she said.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com