Payson Roundup

All it took was a pair of wire cutters and thieves made off with two dogs this weekend from the Humane Society of Central Arizona’s animal shelter.

On Sunday, the Payson Police Department received a call around 7:30 a.m. from the shelter that two dogs, a pit bull and a boxer mix, had been stolen overnight from kennel No. 1, said police Chief Don Engler.

Lisa Boyle, with the HSCAZ, said someone cut a hole through a back gate on the north side of the facility, walked through a dog run area, cut another hole through a fence near the facility and then pried open the back door to the “dog barn.” The two impounded dogs were taken from a kennel on the opposite end of the entrance.

“When the staff came in at 7:30 a.m., they noticed the back door was open and discovered the damage and the theft of the two dogs,” Boyle said.

Police are following up on several leads, but have not made any arrests.

Boyle said the two dogs had only been at the shelter for 72 hours. Police had picked the dogs up earlier from a home, brought them to the shelter and impounded them.

The cost to pick the dogs up was $130.

Reportedly, someone had come and looked at the dogs during office hours, but did not take them.