Couple devastated after thieves steal veterinary clinic trailer
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - A San Leandro couple is devastated after thieves made off with a trailer full of supplies and equipment they use to run their mobile pet-vaccine and veterinary clinic.
"There will be a great loss. We're just hoping that we'll be able to continue to operate, although we'll be starting from the ground up," said Jessica Cadillo, who runs Cheap Shots Pet Vaccine Clinic with her husband Robert Cadillo.
"When you watch the surveillance video, it gets very, very personal," she said. "You see them and you just wish you could talk to them and ask them not to do that to you."
The theft happened outside the couple's business on Joaquin Avenue near East 14th Street in San Leandro at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Surveillance video shows sparks flying as a man uses a tool to cut off the locks on the 20-foot trailer.
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"Like a handheld electric grinder, like it has a disc on it, so it spins," Robert Cadillo said.
The man in the video then maneuvers a Chevy Tahoe in front of the trailer and a woman gets out of the SUV. She moves trash cans out of the way as the man gets into position. The two then switch places as the man connects the trailer to the SUV. They drive off.
The Cadillos say they've lost equipment worth $500,000 accumulated over 20 years, including medications, lights, a generator, and "hydraulic tables so that we can lift big dogs up higher if they are arthritic or older," Jessica Cadillo said.
They specialize in providing all kinds of services for pets, including low-cost vaccines, flea treatments, and veterinary exams.
"We feel violated and upset. The reason we're mostly upset is not because of the loss we've suffered, but the loss that our community suffered, the loss that the pets that we've been providing care for suffer," Jessica Cadillo said.
The trailer is usually attached to the couple's van in the driveway. But the van broke down on the freeway last week, so the trailer was parked on the street when the thieves struck.
"We were actually setting up to get it fixed today, and they took it two days ago," Robert Cadillo said.
He had this message for the thieves: "I really hope that whatever comes out of your life, that you can make it better than what you're doing. It's only going to get worse for you.
A GoFundMe has been set up for the victims.
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan