Recently, Happy Paw was contacted by a benefactor who found a suspicious Twitter account created allegedly to help animals. We checked this webpage and found it to be fake and using photos and videos of other shelters raising funds.
Unfortunately, since the full-scale invasion, this is not the first time that Ukrainian animal protection organizations have encountered the activities of fraudsters, especially manipulation of the trust of foreigners who have a sincere desire to support animals in Ukraine.
For your help not to fall into the paws of fraudsters, but into the paws of animals in need, we have created a handy guide on what you should pay attention to before donating:
- Legal status of the organization. Officially registered organizations have the required package of documents that regulate their activities and non-profit status. Unfortunately, not all shelters in Ukraine are officially registered, but fraudsters who aim to make a quick profit are unlikely to waste their time to create a charity foundation or a public organization.
- A company’s bank account used to raise funds to help animals. Fraudsters often use private cards or payment systems such as PayPal.
- Existence of websites and pages in social networks created before February 24, 2022 and regularly updated now.
- Content. Please pay attention to what the shelter’s social media feed consists of. If the purpose of every post is to get donations, the chances of you being manipulated are very high. Such pages usually use bloody photos of injured animals, images of large numbers of animals and emotional appeals for urgent emergency help.
- Physical existence. Check where the shelter is located, whether the address and conditions for visiting it are indicated. Make sure the number of animals cared for by the organization is indicated.
- The shelter has specific needs and target fees with a specified sum. For example, it is indicated how much and what kind of feed the animals need, what seasonal treatments or medicines are used for the treatment of the animals.
- Reports on spent funds. The organization regularly publishes documents (bills, checks, etc.) certifying that the aid received from benefactors has been spent as intended.
We are sincerely grateful for your help and appreciate everyone who supports Ukraine. This is why we would like your sincere help to Ukrainian animals, overcoming huge distances, not to be lost in the pockets of unscrupulous people, but to reach its furry addressee making it happier.