I didn’t read the contract and now I’ve received a solicitor’s letter accusing me of theft. What do I do?

[LostForWords2021]

I’ve NC and will repost in the dog house for further help.

At the beginning of the first lockdown a friend contacted me from a rescue centre. They had an old dog in the pound due to be PTS and asked if I could foster him.

I’m a dog lover, always had foster dogs and at the time I was able to agree for a short period so she put me in touch with the rescue people, they made a FB chat group inc a vet nurse and we made arrangements for them to drop him to our house.

He was the most loving and adorable old boy, it was obvious he was old, he was falling over off his legs and had a few other old age issues but he was very grateful for a 2nd chance and I sorted some homeopathic medicines whilst we sorted a vet check out (This was all communicated over the chat group)

They sent me a foster contract which I signed and returned but, as he wasn’t meant to be with us very long I didn’t read and we just got on with a lovely weather lockdown with the poor old sod.

After a few months he became really unwell, I kept them up to date and their vet nurse advised what to say at the appointments- we paid for all the treatment - unfortunately we used a new vet who was very close by and they were dreadful, really, really bad. I still have all the messages pleading I make a complaint about the treatment we did and didn’t receive.

At this point they asked if we wanted to adopt him and we said yes because we loved him and couldn’t see him surviving another new owner. This was all on the group chat but no foster contract signed.

I’ve always lived by measuring our pets happiness, play and pain and this poor lad was deteriorating fast with many post surgery issues, he wasn’t engaging with us and we made the horrible decision to let him go pain free after many, many vet visits and sleepless nights. Covid meant we couldn’t even be with him, it was heart breaking but the right choice.

We informed them of the decision on the group chat and left.

I’ve received a solicitor letter accusing me of breach of contract and offering me a chance to respond to their questions. What do I do?

Send them a polite fuck off letter, setting out the correspondence (including texts) and the dog's treatment and costs, how you made the end of his life as happy and as comfortable as possible and how difficult and sad the decision was. Express your disappointment at receiving this letter and how shoddy and exploitative you find their treatment of a good foster and adoptive carer.

I'd also warn everyone I know who was likely to foster a dog from there. Are there any local forums where people may have complained about similar experiences?

Also follow the link @hannayeah posted and report them. They sound as dodgy as fuck, and doing what they are trying to do to you is certainly enough to merit a report, as is not being registered as a charity but operating as if they are one.

@hannayeah

If you aren’t finding them as registered definitely report it.

Just for clarity, they are only committing an offence if they claim to be a charity and have income of more than £5,000 a year. If their annual income is below £5,000, they can still be a charity without being registered. If their income is above that threshold and they are not registered they cannot represent themselves as a charity, but they can still solicit and accept donations.

Thanks @prh47bridge.

Offering Christmas gifts as prizes - as in raffle prizes? Because that's illegal!! You could definitely report that!

@LostForWords2021

I really don’t know yet and I just don’t understand it at all. The rescue people didn’t even meet the dog so apart from his deceased owner we were the only ones to truly know him and how much he had deteriorated.

The vet report shows we spent £900 then I spent a further £300 on diapers, supplements, orthopaedic beds etc.
That’s between April and August.

Their adoption fee would be £100 but I felt they waived that as they knew we spent the above on him

Easier said than done op but I can't honestly see how their claim can hold any water. Can you say (privately) who they are?

@CandyLeBonBon

Offering Christmas gifts as prizes - as in raffle prizes? Because that's illegal!! You could definitely report that!

No, it is not illegal just because it offers prizes. If it is for a good cause, is registered with the local authority (if proceeds are under £20k) or licenced (if proceeds are over £20k) and complies with other requirements it is perfectly legal.

I can't find the bit about offering prizes. Are you saying tuning raffles is illegal? It's not. There are some legalities to it. If they do on the day raffles they do not need a licence however. If they pre-sell tickets they need to be licensed with the council, they do not need to be a charity, they just need a licence.

They only need to be a charity if they taking over £5000.

As for a registered rescue, there is no legalities regarding registering as a rescue, its one thing that really annoys me and you see so many people calling themselves rescues which is code for I want free animals. Which in fairness it doesn't sound like that's what they were doing, but equally I think rescues need some sort of registration and licensing process.

I work with animals and I have to have a licence to do that, so it's frustrating that rescues can call themselves that without any of the same sort of process.

I meant unlicensed raffles are illegal. Not all raffles obviously. My guess is that they're not too fussed about legalities so it's entirely possible that their 'raffle' is in fact illegal. Just a guess though! Sorry if I was a bit fuzzy!

@CandyLeBonBon I have sent you a PM

@CandyLeBonBon

I meant unlicensed raffles are illegal. Not all raffles obviously. My guess is that they're not too fussed about legalities so it's entirely possible that their 'raffle' is in fact illegal. Just a guess though! Sorry if I was a bit fuzzy!

I'm not sure you can say they are doing anything illegal from what's been said thus far, they aren't required to register as a charity if they don't turn over more than £5000 and they don't have any legal requirement to register or license as a rescue centre either.

Also if raffles are live they don't need a licence. Only those with pre sale tickets need a licence. Least that the requirements in my local authority and I have a licence for a PTA.

Just reading this and thinking that it sounds like the 'charity' in that article.
I'm so sorry OP, you sound like a lovely person. So kind, I'm glad your old boy had you and knew love in his last days.
The....'charity' I understand has form for dodgy legal action. Sadly there are many egotistical FB 'rescuers' out there with little interest in animal welfare and more interest in glory-hunting.
The afore-mentioned organisation is in league with such people.

Hope ths gets thrown out of court.

It’s today, via a phone call at 10am

Good luck @LostForWords2021.

Thank you, appreciated it. It’s so embarrassing that I haven’t told anyone in RL

I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused-they've actually taken you to court? Did the police get involved?
All you did was try to help a suffering animal. This 'charity' should be ashamed.

And good luck x

Sorry if I have missed it, I am on the app so can't filter OPs posts only.

What is today? A civil court hearing?

If so good luck, stay calm, be really clear and to the point. Make it clear that this dog was a liability not an asset, and as such had no value. You incurred significant costs acting in its best interests to avoid it suffering. You have not attempted to recover those costs because you believed you had adopted the dog, but if it was still owned by "the rescue" then those expenses were their liability.

You saved them a lot of money!

Good luck 🤞

Good luck! I can't believe they've sued you!! What for?!

They didn’t show up.

the judge noted, from the newspaper articles I had sent in (thanks to a wonderful MN’er) that the “rescues” solicitor firm closed

one of many articles here

so, the rescue wasn’t represented and had not filed any documentation. He did have the rescue owners mobile number and attempted to call them to add them to the meet me meeting but they failed to answer the call.

it’s over. 2 years of tears of grief and worry

RIP to the gentlest dog I have ever had the pleasure to love, sleep peaceful Bruce you are truly missed 💕

Bless you, I’m so sorry for all you have been through after caring for Bruce. Hope you can now relax - the charity is despicable.

So sorry those bastards put you through all that. Thank you for taking care of him Op he looks gorgeous

So glad it's over for you now, Bruce was obviously so loved ❤️❤️❤️

You did an amazing thing taking him on op. I’m glad it’s over now - what a gorgeous boy he looks