Currituck County, N.C. - For nearly 200 cats and dogs, the Currituck County Animal Shelter is their home. Now they could be fighting for their lives, all because someone stole the emergency generators from the shelter.
"We could lose animals through lack of being able to keep them cool enough, and so they would have trouble breathing, they could hyperventilate if we`re trying to move them to another location and out of harm's way. They would suffocate in the back of the trailer,” says Ginger Sikes from the shelter.
And that could happen in a matter of hours, according to employees.
Staff say the generators were stolen at the worst possible time -- right before hurricane season. They say just a few days ago with Tropical Storm Andrea, power went out for about 15 minutes, but if it would have lasted longer, they could have lost several of the smaller animals.
"You are taking money from the most defenseless of all, and they have no voice. We are their voice,” Sikes added.
The generators are just another cost, as staff is in the middle of raising money to build a new, larger shelter.
And to do that, they have a fundraiser planned for this weekend.
"If we have to divert money from our earnings, which we will prefer to use toward the new shelter, then we`ll have to do it. So it`s robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Sikes told NewsChannel 3.
They say replacing the generators will cost $1,000.
“It doesn`t sound like a great amount when you`re talking 10s of thousands of dollars, but it takes us a lot of effort to raise $1,000,” she said.
That is just scratching the surface of all the money they need.
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