SEQUIM — Police are investigating the theft of $550 in cash, credit card receipts and checks Saturday from the Peninsula Friends of Animals charity booth at the Sequim Open Aire Market.
“All charities this year have suffered, and that’s just another black eye for us,” said Cindy Caldicott, fundraising coordinator for PFOA, which cares for cats and dogs at its Safe Haven shelter off U.S. Highway 101 west of Shore Road and finds them new homes.
“It was in a cash bag, and it was taken while we were talking to customers,” Caldicott said, adding it was the first such theft from the group in six years of taking donations at the summertime market.
Her main concern was the credit card receipts, she said, since PFOA uses an older credit slide card mechanism that records card numbers on receipts.
Caldicott said the PFOA was uncertain how much was taken, although they know they started with $100 cash on hand and had $450 in donations at the time of the theft.
She said anyone who used their credit card to make a PFOA donation should contact Sherry at the PFOA shelter by phoning 360-452-0412.
The theft occurred at about 2 p.m., and Caldicott said it was immediately reported to the Sequim Police Department.
PFOA representatives gave police a description of a suspicious man who was loitering around the booth and was not seen after the money bag disappeared.
Anyone with knowledge of the theft can contact police at 360-683-7227.
Peninsula Friends of Animals is a cageless, no-kill, nonprofit animal welfare group that provides temporary shelter, veterinary care and spay/neutering for rescued cats and dogs that are fostered until permanent homes can be found.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
