Expensive pelts stolen in Whitehorse store break-in

Whitehorse's Bolt & Button fabric shop was broken into this week, but instead of taking cash (or bolts or buttons), the thieves made off with some more unique items three tanned hides.

"There was a beautiful tawny wolf pelt. A very large, long animal, and it was hanging here," said clerk Pauline Craig as she pointed to a bare spot on the wall.

The thieves also made off with a lynx pelt,and a wolverine pelt.

The hides were being sold on consignment by a trapper from the Haines Junction area. Craig couldn't remember how they were priced but said such hides normally fetch hundreds of dollars each.

The thieves apparently broke a window in order to reach insideand unlock the door. The store has a security system but the culprits escaped before police arrived.

Nothing else was taken from the store, including computers, Craig said.The till was not tampered with either.

"I think it was pretty calculated as to what they were looking for," she said.

Two other businesses in the same building have also been broken into in recent months, including a guitar store next door.