First of all, there is no way in H*ll that you should have to pay the dog ticket. Call them and tell them what happened. They will not make you pay it.
Sadly I really doubt that you will ever see any of these items again, even the plasma. I doubt they will ever see the pawn shops and if they do, dont expect one of these pawn shop owners to do you any favors over making a few dollars. The TV and such will be sold on the street. The SPD is shorthanded as it is and its getting worse. They are running from call to call and the detectives are overwelmed. Sadly, I hope he had homeowners with a reasonable deductible.
As far as the crooks knowing where to look, sounds to me that they just looked in the living room and possible and entertainment room in the basement. They were after electronics. Electronics are generally not too hard to find. Like was said before, with the slumping economy there will be more property crimes. On top of this, the City is cutting police officers as the crime rate rises. This is a recipe for disaster. Get some sort of protection, just make sure it has a loud exterior alarm, as the police response to one of those is no faster than other calls (not the officers fault.)
Just my $0.02. I hope that they find his stuff and better yet catch the scumbags that took it.