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toki

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Review for BEAGLE FREEDOM PROJECT, Valley Village, CA, USA

Rating: 1 stars  

RFP/BFP/ARME is a scam. 8/22/18 they made a Facebook post about a beagle found on the side of the road claiming he was used as a "backyard experiment" due to his "mutilated genitalia and horrific scarring." They also claimed his tail was "broken in half by bare hands." Within approximately 24 hours, they gained $23 thousand dollars in donation. However, several hundred people posted that the claimed "mutilation" is actually a genetic defect called canine hypospadias (which is a developmental anomaly where the urethra opens ventral and caudal to its normal anatomic location). Since, the rescue has deleted every single post addressing: 1) the genetic defect 2) the broken tail 3) vet name, vet records, vet bill/estimate, vet address, or any other vet information and 4) anything questioning about their story or asking for proof before donating money. All those that posted the above are consequently blocked. The rescue then posted thanking "vets and vet techs" for diagnosing "from a single photo on Facebook" which is both unethical and enabling fraudulence. However, several other vets and vet techs who also commented about the dog having a genetic defect were also deleted and blocked, so they are selectively using comments to enable their story for donations.

Evidence of the rescue deleting and blocking both correct information and sincere questions are posted and can be searched for on Facebook. One particular situation occurred with someone calling and being left on the phone for twenty minutes (thinking they had hung up). Background laughing can be heard throughout the video. In another, a user had posted asking how they can donate directly to the vet, and the rescue sent them a private message simply stating "You don't." and then blocked them.

Their financial history is suspect as well. In 2016, the rescue made $2.5 million dollars in revenue with less than a million dollars in expenses (with half a million going toward "salaries, other compensation, employee benefits"). This information is publicly available in their IRS "Form 990" for the fiscal year ending June 2017. There is also a public report that can be searched about the founder/director of the rescue for an incident of withholding donated money from another non-profit after doing a conjunct event.

The overall story of this one dog evidences that the rescue is fully prepared and willing to falsify the history of a dog they know nothing about for the sake of thousands of dollars to cover. We know this is fake because: 1) As stated by the rescue, the dog was found on the side of the road so there is no evidence of its history. 2) You cannot diagnose how a tail is broken, by hand or otherwise. 3) Reluctance and active removal of those asking for vet proof (what is there to hide?). 4) There is plenty of information about canine hypospadias. The dog has none of the claimed scarring, and the separation of testes and placement of the urethra is clearly not due to backyard surgery. 5) Half a million dollars set for employee salaries is extremely suspicious for a claimed non-profit organization (for only one fiscal year since being founded 14 years ago).

Overall, this one story and their financial history makes it clear that this "non-profit rescue" has no qualms taking advantage of the public for the sake of money. This is a rescue that is only interested in exploiting an animal's condition to raise money for their claimed purpose of ending animal exploitation.

Role:  General Member of the Public