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Without question, appeals to help animals in need tug at our heartstrings to the point that they often overwhelm safety and reasoning.
Along with you, I hate those TV commercials where they film a cold, skinny dog outside in inclement weather tied up to a cage with a hunk of log chain. I can honestly say I have not watched one complete ad; I change the channel.
For those who look away, does that mean one doesn’t care? Emphatically, no. For many, it simply means one dislikes being financially mined with a pick and shovel of visual misery.
One thing that has gained popularity recently is crowd source funding, or crowd funding for short. Quite simply, it means someone makes an appeal, typically on the internet, and a whole bunch of people give a little bit of money because they are so moved to do so. The result is, hopefully, a bunch of money to address the issue.
Sounds great, but the criminal world now exploits this to get to wallets even faster than a skinny dog TV ad.
Just last week, a couple and a homeless guy in New Jersey were arrested for allegedly not helping the homeless man whose story led to a more than $400,000 haul on GoFundMe.
Allegedly, the couple ran out of gas. The homeless guy (supposedly an ex-Marine) walked a gas can to them and spent his last $20 to get them home. They were so moved they set up a crowd source site and made an appeal to “pay it forward.”
The thing blew up last November and went viral, netting some $402,706 from more than 14,000 people in 30 days. Then the homeless man, Johnny Bobbitt Jr., complained he did not get his full cut, which triggered a police investigation. And then it was determined to be a hoax.
Now Mark D’Amico, 39, Kate McClure, 28, and Bobbitt, 35, all sit in jail.
Bobbitt and his lawyers said the couple was hoarding the money, and that he’d only received $75,000. Lawyers for the couple said they were concerned Bobbitt would spend more money on a drug habit.
Prosecutors say the money has been in the pocket of gaming establishments for months now thanks to the couple’s insatiable gambling habit.
So why is this here in a pet column? Because we see this often enough at Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The formula is simple. Pick a case with a lot of appeal. Throw it out on the internet. Now, just sit back and wait for the drive-by donations to come in.
Most such funds are probably used for good intentions as described, more or less. Still, some are a scam. It is not uncommon to see more than enough money raised for a veterinary case and then have people who donated calling wanting to know what happened to the rest of the money.
So here’s how this works. Legally, the money donated belongs to the person who set up the account. What they decide to do with it is up to them exclusively. Yes, they can decide to slink away and go spend all or part of it. If they raise enough, they may get an IRS Form 1099 in the mail from the crowd source site, and they have to pay taxes.
My best advice is: be careful. Don’t buy every sad tale one reads online that follows with a monetary appeal. Do some research by calling around to where this suffering pet is located. Call the local veterinarian or shelter. Donate knowing the money is irretrievable.
Charlie Powell is the public information officer for the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, which provides this column as a community service. For questions or concerns about animals you’d like to read about, email .