Animal charity scam?

[JeremyBeadlesLobsterHands]

I follow my local animal charity on social media and donate occasionally when I see them in town, or when they have an appeal for a specific animal. The charity is run by a woman who posts on social media daily with pictures of her feeding the rescued animals, new intakes, and family photos of her kids with the animals. A few months ago, she posted a photo of an animal I’ve been looking for for ages. It’s a bit unusual, but I’ve got several already and confident I’d be able to take on more. I messaged her and she read the message immediately and asked me to do a video of the area id keep the animal in. I sent the video immediately and she watched it, but didn’t respond.
After a couple of weeks, I messaged again and explained I wasn’t trying to push her, but was keen to adopt and was the animal still available. Again, she read the message and didn’t respond. A month later, she posted a picture of the animal in a larger area, saying how it’d had no interest and was now so big they’d had to spend £* building a new home and they’d love donations towards it. The charity’s bank details were on the post, this is something she does regularly posting about a new rescue needing vets bills covered or new equipment for new animals coming in. I commented on her post saying how nice it was to see the animal, and that I’d message her about adopting. I then messaged her privately again saying how keen I was to adopt it, explaining my experience and knowledge of the breed and how I had the space and time to take it. Again, she read the message and ignored, and then deleted my comment from the post.

I'm so annoyed, I’ve donated to this charity in the past. I’ve always thought what a lovely person she is and how lucky her children are to grow up surrounded by animals, knowing they’re literally saving these animals lives. Now I’m thinking it’s a scam, she isn’t really rehoming them and is just using them as a sob story to get people to pay for animals she’s planning to keep. Now I don’t know what to do, I’m guessing I should just stop following, stop supporting her but I’m so angry

Can you write some more public comments about the animal you’d like to adopt, and public ally call her out?

Maybe contact local council or trading standards about her?

If she's running an actually registered charity or pretending to be a charity then you could contact the Charity Commission for advice.

There are "rescue watch" groups on Facebook exactly for this kind of reason. You could post your concerns anonymously in one of these groups. If your concerns are valid, you won't be the first person to have them.

You could also report your concerns to trading standards and the charity commission (if they're registered with them).

Is she a registered charity? The reason I’m asking is I donated weekly to a ‘charity’ who provided food packages for people. It was a constant social media stream of ‘we’ve been turned down for funding’ posts. It transpired they weren’t a charity after all but a community interest company. I also found out she’d been charged and sentenced to community service for stealing a retirement collection and Christmas Night out payments from our local NHS trust a few years previously.

From what you’ve written OP it certainly sounds as if she’s fleecing good natured people for money.

It sounds as though she is using the rescue to fund her own family's adopted pets.

That’s terrible! What a disgusting woman!

She has a charity number and seems to be fully registered? I’m not sure if I’m just being petty and need to let it go?

Obviously people with bad intentions can worm their way into anything. But can I just correct a bad impression from this post - CIC's (charitable companies, for want of a better description) are strictly regulated and as tightly controlled as registered charities. The main difference is that they are often preferred because they limit liability in the same way company status does (many charities have company status for the same reason - you can be both) so people are not putting their hones and assets at risk in the way that charitable trustees do.

Her accounts haven’t been updated since 2020 and they were due in 2021 and her confirmation statement is also overdue, they can’t be that tightly regulated. Thank you for your input but I’m well aware of the difference of charities and CIC’s and how both operate.

Get a friend to contact her about a different animal and see what the response is.
If she ignores them too, you know she's a scammer.
If she invites her round to have a look at the animal, go with her and then check out what's going on with the animal you want.

I LOvE this idea! I’m doing it! Thank you!

Good luck. x

Unfortunately it does sound like it, I am aware of several.

There is one that most followers believe to be in Spain or the UK but are actually in Portugal, who are actually a reg charity though if you look, they've not stuck to their remit, nor submitted accounts in YEARS...

They post sob stories all the time, but rarely have up to date photos, hardly any animals ever leave, animals that enter are almost always puppies, and they seem to forget the lies they've told (one animals story becomes anothers, animals are supposedly starving with ribs showing but look overweight if anything etc etc).

No one can visit, pertinent questions are deleted and the askers blocked, they don't have the requisite licencing/permissions to run a rescue where they are nor do they have the permission to have so many dogs on the property... the list of wrong-doings is near endless and they appear to survive on a limited number of long term followers who are all vulnerable for one reason or another, sending them the last of their benefits or pensions each month!

I would see if you can visit - look for a reg. charity number but of course they don't HAVE to be a reg. charity, if they are claiming to be one they must have and display the reg. number.

If you suspect fraud, report to HMRC - it does sound as if they are scamming people to fund their own private animal collection/pets.

This is the model that a lot of UK animal rescue and rehoming charities use:

1. Find some appealing animals
2. Use appealing animals to accrue more donations than are necessary to feed/house/medicate the animals
3. Excess donations are used to fund a whole structure of employees, with highly paid CEOs, advertising execs, funding coordinators etc
4. Meet celebrities
5. Don't give away the animals; they are your capital

A lot of small local rehoming charities do prioritise finding the animals a new home, but it's almost impossible to get a dog from one of these places

Make a complaint to the Fundraising Regular, that you are concerned that her fundraising appeal is misleading/may not be genuine.

Fundraising Regulator.

Report this on op

I can’t believe there are so many people doing this, I’d never heard of it

You are not being petty! Shea is definitely keeping the animal so she can get cash. She's being dishonest and report her to the charity commission as she's misrepresenting herself to get donations. People need to know.

There are other charities out there more deserving loosing out.