Christmas pet supplies stolen from family's vehicle

A Conception Bay South family who had pet supply donations stolen from their vehicle is warning others to keep valuables out of sight in their vehicles.

Cheryl Ellis says her daughter, 8,organized a Christmas skating party at Mile One on Saturday and, in the spirit of Christmas, asked her friends to bring a donation to the SPCA as admission.

After the skate, the Ellis family bought some pet food, kitty litter and cat and dog treats from the proceedswith the intention of bringing the items to the SPCA.

Theythen parked thetruck in the Holy Heart Theatre parking lot to take in an evening show.

Truck window smashed

When they got out of the auditorium at 10 p.m., they found a windowsmashedand the bags of pet supplies,along with some donation money, stolen.

"I feel violated that they went into my personal space," said Ellis.

Ellis said her daughter felt quite scared when she saw the vandalized vehicle and discovered thedonationshad been stolen.

"I would have liked to have seen their faces actually when they opened those bags because they had to have been disappointed," said Ellis.

Ellis said in hindsight, she should have brought the donations home to C.B.S., then returned into St. John's to attend the the concert, but she said she didn't think that her vehicle would be that vulnerable in a public parking lot.

"You should be able to go into an event with your family and enjoy the evening," said Ellis.

"This time of year in particularmakes it more difficult because people are supposed to be happy and joyful and kind and people are not supposed to do this to each other."

Theft reported to police

Ellis has reported the theft to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and she has been wondering whether venues such as Holy Heart and the Arts and Culture Centre should consider hiring security for theirparking lots, even if it would mean a small extra charge for tickets.

Meanwhile, family and friends of Ellis and her daughter are organizing on Facebook to collect more Christmas pet supplies for the SPCA.