3 Dogs Unlawfully Taken From Riverside County Animal Shelter

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Sheriff's investigators Monday were working to identify one of two men suspected of breaking into the Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley and stealing three impounded dogs.

One suspect, 21-year-old Tymothy Burns Whitney, was arrested Friday on suspicion of breaking and entering and was cited and released from custody.

His alleged accomplice remains at large.

According to the Department of Animal Services, the men allegedly forced their way into the animal shelter on Van Buren Boulevard in the predawn hours Wednesday.

Security surveillance videotape released by the agency shows the pair inside the shelter compound with what appear to be bolt cutters, going from cage to cage in search of the three dogs.

The video can be viewed at youtu.be/kxxc3rCwEHE.

The suspects allegedly released the dogs — two pit bulls and a husky-German shepherd mix — and led them away from the shelter, according to investigators.

The dogs were seized on Sept. 3 following an investigation into an attack at a homeless encampment on Van Buren, just north of 56th Avenue, Department of Animal Services spokesman John Welsh said.

A man was bitten on one of his arms and sought medical treatment, Welsh said.

The victim declined to identify which pit bull at the camp attacked him, so animal control officers impounded two that were at the site, as well as the husky because it lacked food and water in the crate where it was kept, according to Welsh.

The dogs' owner, a woman whose name was not disclosed, could have reclaimed them Sept. 13 because it was the end of the mandatory 10-day quarantine period that follows a dog attack. Welsh said investigators believe both Whitney and his unidentified alleged accomplice likely know the woman.

"There wasn't a need for these two men to take matters into their own hands," Department of Animal Services Field Services Cmdr. Josh Sisler said. "This bite, although serious, would not have prevented the owner the opportunity to get her pets back."

The dogs have not been found.

A description of the second suspect was not available, but images indicated that he was white or Hispanic, thinly built and about 5 feet, 10 inches tall. He was wearing a black T-shirt, dark-colored trousers and dark- colored sneakers, as well as a red ski mask.

Anyone with information was asked to call the sheriff's Jurupa Valley Station at 951-955-2600.