Suspected burglar at Mendocino County pet hospital found carrying cat diarrhea pills

It would have taken some fairly sophisticated burglary tools to get to the powerful opioids and expensive medications securely locked in a wall safe at the Mendocino Coast Animal Hospital in Fort Bragg.

Elias Rutherford, 29, of Fort Bragg had none of those when he was caught coming out of the bushes on the south side of the one-story pet hospital shortly after 1 a.m. Friday. Police said he was found with some over-the-counter drugs and a bottle of “cat diarrhea pills,” said Fort Bragg police.

Rutherford was arrested on suspicion of burglary after he allegedly broke into the hospital and rifled through drawers and cupboards, police said.

Rex Smith, who helps manage the hospital, said the burglar took a bottle of Metronidazole, an antibiotic used primarily as an anti-diarrheal medication used to treat dietary distress in cats. “He broke in through the window, cut himself and was bleeding,” said Smith.

“He just went through every drawer, every cupboard ... at least he didn’t throw anything around.”

Smith, whose wife, Dr. Diane Perry, is the hospital’s veterinarian and owner, said the burglar was most likely after narcotics, which are required by state law to be kept in locked units. He said the hospital’s safe contains opioid pain medications, like Tramadol, as well as Valium, a benzodiazepine class drug used as a sedative for dogs and cats.

But he said burglars would “have to have some major equipment” to get to the hospital’s controlled substances.

Police Lt. Charles Gilchrist said Rutherford was also in possession of various other anti-psychotic medications that had been prescribed to other people. He said it appeared Rutherford had obtained those ?medications elsewhere.

Gilchrist said it was unclear what the burglar was after, but the hospital appeared to be a “target of convenience.”

“Doctors’ offices are pretty easy targets because you know exactly what’s in there,” Gilchrist said.

Smith said the hospital’s security alarm company responded quickly to the break-in and police arrived within minutes. Rutherford was booked into Mendocino County Jail.