Apparently, the thieves who stole a broken-down van filled with pet supplies over the weekend don't have cats. Officials with Adopt an Angel learned that Tuesday afternoon when they found some of their stolen supplies scattered around the same parking lot on South College Road where their van was discovered missing on Saturday. The returned items were the junkiest of what was taken and all for cats. "It's like they're playing games," said Jill Jones, treasurer of the nonprofit, which has connected homeless pets with new owners in Wilmington for five years. "The van's still gone and all the dog stuff is still gone." Since Adopt an Angel doesn't have a shelter it kept its supplies in a van, which had to be jump-started to run. Still, the van disappeared from a parking space outside PETCO in the 300 block of South College Road this weekend. On Tuesday about one third of the supplies was found and returned - some of it only to be taken again. As police took inventory of the returned property which was scattered around a large parking lot, passersby picked up other pieces and left, Jones said. "They had no idea," Jones said. "They thought it was just junk." So while Jones said the ordeal has shown her everything from blatant theft to confused misappropriation, it hasn't been all bad. Adopt an Angel has been offered minivans to replace the dysfunctional van it used to store its supplies. Also, PETCO has loaned cages so the nonprofit's weekend adoptions can continue. And Carolina Canines, which trains service dogs, has donated to offset the still missing dog supplies. "It's comical," Jones said. "I got the best of the best and the worst of the worst." |