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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The public is being warned to look out for someone selling stolen raffle tickets after a number of the tickets meant to raise money for the animal shelter the SPCA is building went missing last week.

Nicole Spencer, president of the NWT SPCA, holds a book of 25 raffle tickets, identical to the six books lost or stolen last week. The animal welfare society is not allowed to print replacement tickets, and will be out between $2,500 and $3,000 if the tickets are not recovered. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

"If you found the tickets, please return them to the RCMP. And if somebody has stolen them to make money off of our charity, I'd like them just to reconsider and think about the money that we're losing by them doing that," said Nicole Spencer, president of the NWT SPCA.

A person who volunteered to help the SPCA sell raffle tickets had six books disappear from his truck early last week.

"We're hoping that they're in a snowbank somewhere and not being sold," said Spencer.

"But there could be somebody out there selling tickets on our behalf and reaping the rewards."

If the tickets were stolen and are being sold, people who purchase the tickets will have no way of winning any of the prizes in the draw and the SPCA will not receive any of the money.

The person who was originally going to sell the tickets is a mine worker who was planning to bring the booklets in with him on shift, said Spencer, adding that they would have probably sold out quickly.

The raffle tickets are being sold for $20 apiece or $50 for three. This means that the 150 missing tickets would have brought in between $2,500 and $3,000.

Spencer is worried that news of the stolen tickets may dissuade people from buying tickets for the Throw Us A Bone Raffle, but said that the animal welfare society has an obligation to inform the public about it.

The numbers on the lost/stolen raffle tickets are 0476 to 0625.

There are many legitimate places around Yellowknife where people can be assured that they are buying legitimate tickets, said Spencer. Volunteers will be set up at the liquor store, the Co-Op grocery store, Sutherland's Drugs and Borealis Pet Supplies throughout the month of February.

Many other volunteers are taking tickets to work with them to sell to co-workers, said Spencer. The NWT SPCA is hoping to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 through the Throw Us A Bone raffle - after covering the cost of the prizes. These prizes include a trip from Top of the World Travel, and a snowmobile and an ATV from Force One.

To complete the shelter, the SPCA still needs to raise around $140,000, said Spencer. Currently, the group has enough money for phase two of the construction, which should be complete in about a month. The shelter is expected to ring in with a final cost of $800,000 at completion, not including operation and maintenance.

"It really all depends on the money that we get in," Spencer said about when she expects the animal shelter to open. "If we get $100,000 in the next few months, then we will get it done by the early summer."

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