AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin Pets Alive! (APA!) transport van has been found after the organization said it was stolen early Monday morning.
APA! said at approximately 3:55 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 8, a man stole the transport van from the shelter's location on Cesar Chavez Street by smashing through the gates. APA! said the gate damage is around $13,000.
APA! said the van was found at a gas station at 2820 South Lamar Blvd. just before 11 a.m., but officials say the van no longer runs and that part of the dashboard was ripped out.
APA! shared the photo below, which shows damage to the gate:
The bright yellow and orange van with APA! logos is responsible for transporting and saving thousands of pets' lives, and it is vital to APA!'s efforts. It's one of two transport vans it has.
"This van is critical to our life-saving efforts. This van goes all around Central Texas and South Texas to save animals that are on euthanasia lists … transporting them to other shelters, so with this van out for a few months, that could be a couple hundred lives we are not able to save," APA! spokesperson Luis Sanchez said.
APA! said it is sending pets to places that have space like Seattle and Idaho while it waits to see how long it will take to get the van up and running again.