Warrants issued for 2 women in animal shelter theft as donations pour in

A close-up of two people who stole a safe containing cash, tablets, and a payment machine from an animal adoption clinic in Edmonton on Oct. 16, 2024. (Courtesy: AARCS North Haven)

Warrants have been issued for two women in connection with a theft at a local animal shelter.

Destiny Cappo, 24, and Tierra Hollar McGill, 27, are both wanted for theft under $5,000.

A safe containing about $1,200 in cash, tablets and a payment machine were stolen from the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) North Haven Adoption Centre during business hours on Oct. 17.

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AARCS said the theft happened while staff stepped away from the reception area to help volunteers caring for animals at the facility.

In a video supplied by AARCS, two women are shown at the reception desk around 6 p.m.

One of the women can be seen grabbing a safe from the reception area and carrying it out the front door of the building.

Two woman are seen here in a supplied video stealing a safe full of cash, tablets and a payment machine from an animal adoption clinic during business hours on Oct. 16, 2024. (Courtesy: AARCS North Haven)

No animals were harmed during the theft.

A spokesperson for AARCS says the community has rallied around the shelter since the theft.

"We really had a pretty significant turnout of donations and support from the community," operations manager Leigh Melligan told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday. "We've got a brand spanking new safe which is really incredible."

Melligan says they've also received thousands of dollars in donations since the theft.

"Over the last several weeks, we've had lots of people coming in and giving us $50 here, or $100 here, or $500. It's been really, really amazing," she said.

"We had, we had somebody walk in and hand us a $15,000 check from the business that they work with, which was really amazing. It was, it made me cry, actually."

Erik Gadallah is the general manager of Sherwood Buick GMC, the business that made the donation.

"I just thought, how can you steal money from a shelter that's given back to animals and and people who are committing to helping these animals in our community? I just had to do something about it," he told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

Gadallah says the business frequently donates to local worthy causes.

"Every year we commit to giving $100,000 back to our community. So every month, it's a matter of what community and what charity should we support?" he explained.

"As soon as we heard about the story, we we just had to give back, so we were there the next day with some money to support them."

Erik Gadallah at Sherwood Buick GMC on Nov. 6, 2024. (Darcy Seaton/CTV News Edmonton)

"Our community supports us every day. So it's our duty to give back."

Melligan says AARCS also raised $9,000 through a joint fundraiser with local radio station Play 107.

She says the donations will go along way in helping even more animals.

"This time of year is a really big fundraising time for us. It hurts a lot when something like that happens, that we lose even a little bit, so to have not just that money come back to us, but such a huge amount more is incredible."

You can donate to AARCS online.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson and Darcy Seaton