In light of a recent case where a rescuer had applied to several organisations for financial aid for the same bills without disclosing this multiple claim to us (despite a clause in our form which requires this disclosure), we wish to now gently remind all applicants to please disclose the facts HONESTLY when applying for claims from our fund.
On our subsidy forms, there is a clause that says:
Are you also applying to other organizations for subsidy for this case? If so, please state the name of the organizations : __________
We ask that all rescuers answer this question truthfully when filling up our form, and please state the names of the organisations that you are also applying to for funding on the particular case. We will work with those organisations and revised our subsidy amount accordingly if you are claiming from several funds.
This is not the first time we have encountered such an incident. There was a previous case where a double claim was prevented because the first claim was made from us and we had retained the original receipts. Thus, this prevented the second claim from being made. There was also another case where the first claim was made from an individual (who did not take the receipt), and the second claim made from us. Luckily the individual was my friend, and she alerted me about it. Thus the double-claim was also averted.
However, in this recent case, the two organisations which had provided subsidies had not retained the original receipts, hence, the rescuer was able to make another claim from us using the same receipts without disclosing the amounts she had received from the two organisations. We only came to know about the multiple claims after a reader saw our post and alerted us about it. However, we have asked the rescuer in question why the multiple claims were not disclosed to us, and she said it was a “sincere mistake”.
To prevent such multiple claims from happening again, could we now request all organisations or individuals that provide subsidies to rescuers to please insist on the original receipt and retain these receipts. This would be one way to prevent multiple claims from happening as no claim can be made without submitting the original receipt.
On our part, we have always insisted on the original receipts from rescuers. These receipts are kept by us for audit and we do not return it to the rescuers. We also do not process any claim unless it is accompanied by the original receipt.
In the case of making multiple claims where each organisation would require original receipts, kindly photocopy the receipt and get it certified and stamped by the vet. And should you receive not the original receipt, but a stamped and certified one, kindly ask the applicant which organisation or individual has the original receipt. Ask for the contact details, and please contact that organisation/individual for verification before giving out any donation.
We all have to play our role to protect the credibility and integrity of animal charity.
Every case that we subsidise is also published on this blog with details of the case, photographs of the animal and the rescuer’s full name.
We are accountable to public funds which have been entrusted to us in good faith and our intention is to help rescuers and their animals but we can only do so with truthful disclosure of all the facts from the rescuer.
If rescuers do multiple claims without disclosing this to the donors or the organisations that are providing the subsidies, this would eventually destroy the credibility of animal charity in the public’s eye and at the end of the day, the animals lose and so do the honest rescuers. We have seen human charities losing credibility due to the abuse of funds or donations and we certainly do not want this happening in animal charity as well. If this happens, the biggest losers would be the animals.
As a registered society, we have policies to abide by, so we urge all applicants to please read the policies before making any claim to avoid unnecessary confusion and misunderstandings later on. Our subsidy for medical treatment for rescued street animals is 50% of the total cost of treatment per animal subject to a maximum of RM500. This amount is also subject to availability of funds and we retain sole discretion to approve the subsidy.
For those who wish to claim from multiple funds, currently we have a collaborative effort with Scratch and PetFinder.my whereby we will inform them on all medical claims submitted to us. In the event that the rescuer is also claiming from their funds, we will work together on a revised subsidy amount from each fund to prevent over-subsidy from happening.
We would now like to invite other organisations that give out donations to work together with us so that we may jointly inform each other when a rescuer makes any claims. This is to prevent the incidence of multiple claims from happening, which definitely does not augur well for animal charity.
As a response to this recent case, MDDB has indicated its interest to work together with us on the area of providing subsidies to rescuers who make multiple claims. We respect that each organisation has its own policies, so the collaboration that we are seeking is that each organisation informs the rest how much it is subsidising for each case. We believe this is one way to prevent the case of over-subsidy or rescuers who do not disclose their multiple claims to us.
Please let’s work together to prevent fraud and abuse in animal charity. We all know how much the street animals need help. Let us work together to devise an efficient system to prevent abuse. This would be our responsibility to the animals. To achieve this end, we are open to suggestions. So, kindly leave a comment in this post if you have any.
As a registered organisation, as per article 11(7) of our constitution, we are permitted to receive donations to carry out our work and our work is to help rescuers and their animals.
We wish to ensure all our donors that we will take all possible measures to prevent the occurrence of fraud, abuse and dishonest claims as we are accountable to the donations that you have entrusted to us in good faith. We view each case of suspected dishonesty seriously and we will carry out investigations to uncover the truth.
Thank you.