It's been a tough week for PetRescue; an award winning investigative journalist picked up a story in a major WA weekend newspaper, interviewing local rescue groups about the impact of PetRescue's predatory fundraising behaviour;
Since (PetRescue) began pushing hard for public donations, rescue groups complain their own funding has shrunk. And as volunteers, they can’t compete with PetRescue’s slick and professional marketing campaigns.
Most pointedly, they claim many people donate to PetRescue mistakenly thinking they’re donating to the rescue groups, which shoulder the financial burden of feeding, sheltering, de-sexing animals as well as meeting all vet bills.
PetRescue doesn’t house any animals. Its principal function is operating a website which is a free platform for rescue groups all around the country to advertise their animals, many of which have been saved from pounds, abandoned or are simply unwanted.
Adding to the angst of these groups, some are bitter that images of animals they’ve saved have been used by PetRescue to solicit donations, of which they don’t get a cent. And there are claims that fundraising campaigns may have been misleading.
Disenchantment has prompted several groups to sever ties with PetRescue.
PetRescue's response has been to not respond at all to the public or their rescue group members; however their management did comment once on social media
PetRescue clearly doesn't feel its done anything wrong in running aggressive fundraising campaigns and taking hundreds of thousands of dollars a year out of the animal rescue movement, using the images of animals it has never met, nor intended to contribute to financially.
However, if PetRescue has never met these animals, it lends itself to the question; why is PetRescue allowed to take donations at all?
To solicit donations and be able to offer the "gifts over $2 are tax deductible" incentive, an organsation needs to be endorsed by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR).
PetRescue is endorsed as a DGR as an animal welfare charity .
According to the ATO, an animal welfare charity is an organisation that has the following characteristics:
It is an institution whose principal activity is one or both of the following:
- providing short-term direct care to animals (but not only native wildlife) that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners
- rehabilitating orphaned, sick or injured animals (but not only native wildlife) that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners.
PetRescue describes itself as a “digital animal welfare agency” and provides no "short-term direct care to animals" - neither do they "rehabilitate orphaned, sick or injured animals".
So what gives the ATO the idea that they do?
From the organisations's Constitution, or governing documents, their organisations Primary Object:
3. OBJECTS AND POWERS
3.1 Primary Object
3.1.1 The primary object of the Company is to rehabilitate orphaned, sick or injured domestic animals that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners and to reduce the number of orphaned, sick or injured domestic animals that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners that are euthanized, by rehoming those animals.
3.1.2 Rehoming orphaned, sick or injured domestic animals that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners involves and includes:
(a) identifying and recruiting permanent adoptive homes in which orphaned, sick or injured domestic animals that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners can be rehabilitated;
(b) identifying and recruiting temporary foster homes in which orphaned, sick or injured domestic animals that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners can be rehabilitated, until such time as permanent homes can be identified and recruited;
and
(c) creating new volunteer foster care groups to enable the retrieval of orphaned, sick or injured domestic animals that have been lost, mistreated or are without owners from impound facilities and for their rehabilitation and care in temporary foster homes, until such time as permanent homes can be identified and recruited.
(highlighting mine)
As an organisation they meet the requirement to "rehabilitate orphaned, sick or injured domestic animals" by "rehoming those animals"...
.., and "rehoming" includes;
- "identifying and recruiting permanent adoptive homes"
- "identifying and recruiting temporary foster homes" and,
- "creating new volunteer foster care groups"
So in order to meet the ATO DGR requirements to be "providing short-term direct care to animals", or "rehabilitating orphaned, sick or injured animals" PetRescue has redefined what that even means. A virtual animal rescue group!
"Caring" for animals, it's never met.
"Rehabilitating" animals it contributes nothing towards.
PetRescue clearly does not intend to change its fundraising strategies, so maybe the community has to resist in a more foundational fashion; asking the ATO to close this loophole and require that animal care charities care for actual, real-life pets. If you're a rescue group frustrated that you're losing animal care donations to a charity who does not care for pets, you can contact the ATO anonymously, via their website using their tax evasion reporting form.