Theft at Hope for Wildlife prompts 'thousands of positive actions'

Thieves stole $1,000 from Hope for Wildlife last week, but the Nova Scotia refuge's founder says the public's response has been "truly heartwarming."

"It's truly amazing, everybody that's donated online, the outpouring of support we've gotten from people stopping in and getting a little walkabout and leaving a donation for us," Hope Swinimer said in a video posted to the sanctuary's social media on the weekend.

Staff at the Atlantic Superstore collected donations, promising to "reimburse the full amount that was lost," and streams of individuals and small groups trekked out to Seaforth to refill the donation coffers.

Much of the stolen money would have gone to food for the animals, so Walker Feed donated food to Hope for Wildlife.

"It's truly been heartwarming to see this kind of support," Swinimer said.

Hope for Wildlife takes in wounded wildlife and treats them until they can be released back into the wild. It helps more than 3,500 wild animals each year and takes 10,000 calls on its helpline. 

'Tilted towards the good'

Burglars used a crowbar to break a door and enter the charity's education centre and take a donations jar containing about $1,000. They did about $1,500 in damage to the door, which the centre replaced Saturday. RCMP are investigating. 

Swinimer said often people signing up to volunteer at the centre say they're more animal-people than people-people.

"But I have to say, my whole life, I've felt just as much a people person as I have a critter person," she said. "Even though something kind of bad happened, I really feel the ratios are so tilted towards the good in people. What has happened here the last few days has shown [that]. Just one negative action and thousands of positive actions."

She added that she will never know what led someone to the point in their life where they were robbing an animal sanctuary and wouldn't pass judgement. She also promised to no longer leave any cash in the building.