If this IS a scam, it stinks.FB post - 5th Apr 2019 9:27am
STRAY DOGS LAW UK
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The scam charity Merseyside Dogs Home is running an urgent appeal. They say that they are in urgent risk of closure if they cannot afford to cover their running costs. This is why.
We said last week that Merseyside Dogs Home will not close, while the current Trustees who control the charity, remain in place. That is still unquestionably true. However the net may be closing in now. There is an ongoing Charity Commission investigation in to their financial affairs. The Charity Commission has extensive powers of investigation and will be no doubt be requesting full access to their company accounts and disclosure of other documents such as kennelling records. Disclosure of those records could reveal the extent to which the charity has been defrauded.
In just over three weeks time, Merseyside Dogs Home must produce their full accounts for 2017-2018, which will provide a further explanation as to why the charity continued to post losses of just under £50,000 for that year. Meanwhile we are compiling a dossier to send to Action Fraud police, based on information provided both by the local authorities and by the charity itself.
So, why are Merseyside Dogs Home suddenly in urgent need of funding? After all, they have been incurring substantial losses over a number of years, which have had no impact on their ability to operate. For example, throughout June 2017 - June 2018, they have posted losses of just under £1,000 per week. This was six months before this page had even been created. And yet there have been no similar urgent appeals for funding to the public. On the contrary, the charity states publicly that this level of debt is perfectly normal. So what has changed? Why the sudden urgent need for funds?
The explanation is very straight forward. For several years, the owners of Merseyside Dogs Home have been running a very simple expenses scam. They have been running the costs of their local authority kennelling contracts through the charity, and profiting in the process. They have been doing this by boarding strays unlawfully at Merseyside Dogs Home. The charity has been picking up the staffing and accommodation costs for the Animal Wardens strays and posting a loss. This in turn has resulted in an increase in profits to Animal Wardens, which they have “leant back†to Merseyside Dogs Home in loans. The owners know that these “loans†will eventually be paid back to them when the big legacy money starts to roll in.
But the game is now up. Merseyside Dogs Home is now under huge scrutiny from MPs, the media, council officials, the Charity Commission and the general public. So they can no longer afford to take the risk of boarding strays at the charity’s premises. This means in turn that Animal Wardens are actually having to pay for the cost of boarding stray dogs at licensed boarding kennels Common Fold. So Merseyside Dogs Home continues to make a loss, but Animal Wardens are no longer making the same profits, so can no longer “lend back†the money to the charity.
As result, the charity is now paying for staff and accommodation which it no longer needs, because it is only now boarding less than half the number of dogs as previously (remember, between 80-100 dogs a year ago, now only 30-40). This is giving their owners a real problem. They can’t run their scam any more, as they are actually having to pay to board the dogs in licensed kennels. So they can’t continue to lend back to the charity its own money.
Hence the urgent appeal for funds. But it’s a very strange appeal, is it not. No accompanying press release. No coverage in the local media. Comments about the appeal completely disabled on their own Facebook page. Why the secrecy and refusal to comment? Could it be that they don’t want to have to answer any awkward questions? For example about the illegal boarding of dogs? Why don’t they simply release full details of their subcontract with Common Fold kennels, which would prove that they have been boarding stray dogs legally? Maybe they don’t want to answer questions about about their appeals to the public for the cost of vaccinations and urgent medical treatment, for which Animal Wardens are paid separately by the local authorities? Or about the recent “surprise inspection†earlier this year by Knowsley Council, which the council tipped them off about in advance? Why were staff at the charity instructed not to talk about dogs which were no longer there, in case they gave contradictory replies? Or maybe they don’t want to answer questions about their public appeals for the cost of electric heating of kennels in 2016-2017? Or about the hundreds of dogs gifted to Animal Wardens each year, which then go missing? Or the supply of dogs for dissection to Liverpool University? Or about the countless of stories of dogs rehomed inappropriately and with undisclosed medical conditions? The list goes on and on.
So, back to the “urgent appealâ€. There is, of course, no need for the charity to close. As we have continually stated, it simply needs to be run in the interests of animal welfare rather than individual profit. But this will never happen, until there is full transparency about the relationship with Animal Wardens and the conflict of interest is addressed.
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The scam charity Merseyside Dogs Home is running an urgent appeal. They say that they are in urgent risk of closure if they cannot afford to cover their running costs. This is why.
We said last week that Merseyside Dogs Home will not close, while the current Trustees who control the charity, remain in place. That is still unquestionably true. However the net may be closing in now. There is an ongoing Charity Commission investigation in to their financial affairs. The Charity Commission has extensive powers of investigation and will be no doubt be requesting full access to their company accounts and disclosure of other documents such as kennelling records. Disclosure of those records could reveal the extent to which the charity has been defrauded.
In just over three weeks time, Merseyside Dogs Home must produce their full accounts for 2017-2018, which will provide a further explanation as to why the charity continued to post losses of just under £50,000 for that year. Meanwhile we are compiling a dossier to send to Action Fraud police, based on information provided both by the local authorities and by the charity itself.
So, why are Merseyside Dogs Home suddenly in urgent need of funding? After all, they have been incurring substantial losses over a number of years, which have had no impact on their ability to operate. For example, throughout June 2017 - June 2018, they have posted losses of just under £1,000 per week. This was six months before this page had even been created. And yet there have been no similar urgent appeals for funding to the public. On the contrary, the charity states publicly that this level of debt is perfectly normal. So what has changed? Why the sudden urgent need for funds?
The explanation is very straight forward. For several years, the owners of Merseyside Dogs Home have been running a very simple expenses scam. They have been running the costs of their local authority kennelling contracts through the charity, and profiting in the process. They have been doing this by boarding strays unlawfully at Merseyside Dogs Home. The charity has been picking up the staffing and accommodation costs for the Animal Wardens strays and posting a loss. This in turn has resulted in an increase in profits to Animal Wardens, which they have “leant back†to Merseyside Dogs Home in loans. The owners know that these “loans†will eventually be paid back to them when the big legacy money starts to roll in.
But the game is now up. Merseyside Dogs Home is now under huge scrutiny from MPs, the media, council officials, the Charity Commission and the general public. So they can no longer afford to take the risk of boarding strays at the charity’s premises. This means in turn that Animal Wardens are actually having to pay for the cost of boarding stray dogs at licensed boarding kennels Common Fold. So Merseyside Dogs Home continues to make a loss, but Animal Wardens are no longer making the same profits, so can no longer “lend back†the money to the charity.
As result, the charity is now paying for staff and accommodation which it no longer needs, because it is only now boarding less than half the number of dogs as previously (remember, between 80-100 dogs a year ago, now only 30-40). This is giving their owners a real problem. They can’t run their scam any more, as they are actually having to pay to board the dogs in licensed kennels. So they can’t continue to lend back to the charity its own money.
Hence the urgent appeal for funds. But it’s a very strange appeal, is it not. No accompanying press release. No coverage in the local media. Comments about the appeal completely disabled on their own Facebook page. Why the secrecy and refusal to comment? Could it be that they don’t want to have to answer any awkward questions? For example about the illegal boarding of dogs? Why don’t they simply release full details of their subcontract with Common Fold kennels, which would prove that they have been boarding stray dogs legally? Maybe they don’t want to answer questions about about their appeals to the public for the cost of vaccinations and urgent medical treatment, for which Animal Wardens are paid separately by the local authorities? Or about the recent “surprise inspection†earlier this year by Knowsley Council, which the council tipped them off about in advance? Why were staff at the charity instructed not to talk about dogs which were no longer there, in case they gave contradictory replies? Or maybe they don’t want to answer questions about their public appeals for the cost of electric heating of kennels in 2016-2017? Or about the hundreds of dogs gifted to Animal Wardens each year, which then go missing? Or the supply of dogs for dissection to Liverpool University? Or about the countless of stories of dogs rehomed inappropriately and with undisclosed medical conditions? The list goes on and on.
So, back to the “urgent appealâ€. There is, of course, no need for the charity to close. As we have continually stated, it simply needs to be run in the interests of animal welfare rather than individual profit. But this will never happen, until there is full transparency about the relationship with Animal Wardens and the conflict of interest is addressed.