The Vicksburg-Warren Humane Society is offering a cash reward to anyone who can help recover puppies reported missing from kennels in two separate thefts weeks apart.

“We want our puppies back,” said humane society president Georgia Lynn.

On Monday, she reported to Vicksburg police that four, 5-week-old, mixed-breed terrier puppies had been taken from the U.S. 61 South facility, which also was reported being vandalized on Aug. 18 when two mixed-breed puppies and their mother were reported stolen from the same kennel.

“Anybody that steals animals like this is not going to do those animals right,” Lynn said. “It makes me very angry to know someone can steal four nursing puppies.”

She said the dogs were taken from the facility through a foot-wide hole cut in the fence of one of 13 kennels.

The fence, Lynn said, had not been repaired since it was first vandalized because the humane society had been waiting on an estimate from a contractor.

The vandalism was reported to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, but not reported publicly because it was classified as a misdemeanor.

“We responded to a report that was thought to be a vandalism, but after further investigation it was found to be a theft,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. Pace and Vicksburg police said they have no suspects.

Lynn said repairs will cost the humane society, which operates on public donations and a grant from Warren County, “a few hundred dollars.”

“It’s hard for us to survive down here as it is,” she said, “then we have to pay for the vandalism.”

The dogs have an undetermined value, but each had been vaccinated at a cost of $75, the same amount the humane society charges for adoption.

The two break-ins have been the only ones reported this year, and four were reported last year, Lynn said. In the past seven years since she has been president and director, the humane society has reported more than two dozen break-ins.

The puppies, three described as white with black spots and one white with brown spots, and their mother, a 3-year-old mixed breed, were dropped off on Aug. 15 at the humane society’s 24-hour drop box, a free and anonymous service.

“They came in that young and they were healthy,” Lynn said. “They’re highly adoptable. They had an excellent chance of being placed in a responsible home.”

She said the amount of the cash reward has not been determined, but if anyone has information, please call the humane society at 601-636-6631 or 601-529-4674.

The humane society, a nonprofit organization, took in about 1,060 animals, including 10 horses, between Jan. 1 and June 30, Lynn said.