Back in 2013 I saw one of those popular tear jerking Hope For Paws videos that are always so sensitively presented and obliged to send in what they requested, $5.00. You know the old saying, you get what you ask for right? Well I gave them what they asked for, at least I think I did, I may have given them $10. I figured if just 3% of the millions who visited their videos gave what Hope for Paws asked for they'd be be millionaires.
What I didn't anticipate after I donated however was to find a post card sent to my residence asking for more donations around Christmas time. Since Hope for Paws was an Internet based operation, I felt it had violated not only my privacy, but privacy laws. I don't recall providing my address and have no idea how they obtained it.
Ever since that time when I felt my privacy was violated in 2013 by this pet rescue organization Hope for Paws I've occasionally been visiting their videos, subscribing to their Facebook posts and watching their progress as an organization. Though I'm as moved by so many of their very talented videos on pet rescue as others viewers are, it became apparent to my spirit something was seriously wrong with this picture. Just like everyone else, I so want to believe this is a great organization that cares about dogs, and loves what it's doing.
Turns out, after a small amount of research, there really is a dark side to Hope For Paws that people need to consider prior to donating.
There was a lawsuit and judgment award against Eldad Hagar and witness testimony of a horrific case of dogs abandoned at unprepared shelters after this man accepted donations to help them.
Are you as shocked as I was? I'll get to the darkest part of this blog post later. For now, I'm going to start off with the mild stuff I found.
I researched the accusations made by a few donors on how they claimed it was impossible for them to to adopt the dogs from their videos, that there was no way to do this and their emails went unanswered. I then went to their
website today to confirm this organization has no adoptee list, just a general search engine for those who want to adopt dogs from across the country outside their organization.
Hope For Paws has no list of dogs available to adopt from its rescues. Instead it provides a general search engine that's kind of strange. I wonder if Hope gets paid by this search engine tool each time a dog gets adopted.
I then noted Hope for Paws tries to prove it adopts out its dogs by having its viewers visit their saved dog's fan Facebook page and view its progress with a new family. Here's an example of a saved dog fan page. I just happened to find this on Hope for Paw's Twitter page as its latest post and don't know if every dog receives a fan page or not.
Such a sweet way to share with the public of the dog's progress, isn't it?
On the page, there's a link to
Jordan the Wonder Dog's Hope For Paws video on his fan page and strong promotion of the organization. My feeling is this is propaganda of a highly organized networked organization that promotes its brand carefully. We have no way of knowing if this family really adopted the dog for certain, it could be totally staged and scripted for all we know based on Hope's strong affiliation with Hollywood.
Now for the cut to the chase. I'm presenting my research from the sources and not altering or interpreting any of it for the reader. At the end I'll be providing my post on the 501(3)(c) non-profit organization
Guidestar website. I'll leave it to the reader to make their own decisions on the value of this information. I can only say, from my point of view, I feel God has been wanting me to address this issue of what's really behind Hope For Paws for some reason and only He truly knows these people's hearts. After my brief on-line research I was shocked at what I discovered.
First, let's hear from those who have provided information on the inside workings of this organization beginning from 2012.
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Now let's take a look at a few of the Hope for Paws donors and what they have to say:
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Now let's hear from one of its former abused and humiliated volunteers:
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So let me get this straight. Hope For Paws has complaints that its donors aren't getting any receipt for payment to deduct for their taxes. A grand parent also complained the organization ignored their grandson's $650 donation he saved up for with all of his heart for the dogs. Even when the grand mother sent a letter asking for Eldad Hagar to please send a thank you note to her grandson, it went ignored.
It's seems clear many people are giving far more money to this organization then $5 and that Hope for Paw's asking for so little publicaly in its videos is really a ruse for the IRS to divert its attention from their big money operation. Millions of hits on their videos within days with Google ad revenue coupled with donor emotionalism based donations means Hope for Paws should be a multi-million dollar operation. Problem is, they're only claiming $100,000 made for themselves in 2012, the latest records to date posted on
Guidestar. My guess is based on the lack of receipts for payment and ignoring emails and letters, is that this organization hides its money from the IRS and there should be an investigation due to the many complaints.
I noted there were a few genuine articles about this forthcoming information below that was later taken down even on
The Examiner's news page. I don't know what caused these news sources to remove the article, but this blog called
The Good, The Bad and Ugly lists some shocking information as follows:
There have been many questions & rumors surrounding ELDAD HAGAR & HOPE FOR PAWS rescue. Some of the things in question date back more than 2 years, but if you're in the business of saving lives you'll never forget this one. Many dogs were abandoned, donations went missing & dogs died. I think it might be important to bring these things up, especially when the organization is always winning big charity grants, raking in tons of money & yet always begging for your votes & donations, but seems to rescue only a handful of dogs & has no animals up for adoption on their website.
Also, just as an FYI. Hope for paws is NOT a new hope partner which means they do NOT rescue shelter animals. They never have. They don't take animals into their rescue & they don't even post animals up for adoption on their page- they give them off to other rescues once they catch and videotape. The only thing Eldad & HFP really push for is votes for winning money.
A few years ago, there was a hoarding case in Palmdale, CA that Eldad Hagar (Hope For Paws) was involved in http://sangabrielpets.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/hope-for-paws-rescues-over-100-dogs-from-hoarder-in-palmdale/ where he collected over 15 thousand dollars in donations. Most of those 100+ dogs he "rescued" were later abandoned, some shipped off to other states without even a vet exam, left in boarding or some even sent to high kill shelters where one shelter (Irvine) even wrote to Eldad to please come back & get the dogs he left, which he refused. Some dogs were left for over 18 months in boarding by Eldad who didn't even look back or try to help these dogs. Other rescues had to step up and re-rescue the dogs left behind minus the donation money. He basically took the money and ran. There are court records that prove Eldad abandoned those dogs at boarding without payment. Court Records: NON PAYMENT FOR BOARDING FEES OF THE PALMDALE/AZ DOGSCase Number: 10S01264TOP DOG RESORT, LLC VS. HOPE FOR PAWS, INC.Filing Date: 07/07/2010Case Type: Small Claims (Limited Jurisdiction)Filing Court: San Fernando CourthouseStatus: DISPOSED BY JUDGMENT
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A side note that is interesting: When Milan Radovic (the owner of Top Dog Resort, where Eldad dumped all the dogs and left) took him to court & won for non payment of these dumped dogs from Palmdale, Eldad's wife, Audrey, spoke on his behalf, while Eldad stood there silently & she told the judge the reason why he didn't understand the payment situation or fees was because Eldad could not understand or speak English very well. How many of you have heard him speak in his videos, in person or on the phone? There are hundreds of people who can attest to Eldad speaking perfect English.
Upon hearing of the abandonment of all the dogs, the Executor of the AZ dogs demanded via phone & letter those dogs he was given to be returned to the estate. She did not like or approve of Eldad or Sharon Gold dumping the dogs.
Speaking of Sharon Gold... she was also convicted of ********* and did ****** time. Yeah, great pair these two. (Note from CM: I have been unable to substantiate this information and do not support its validity as a result)
Eldad also had two dogs (Basenji's) killed that he "rescued" from Palmdale. He and Sharon deemed them dangerous without even getting them properly evaluated. They never even had a chance. Milan at Top Dog and another witness can attest to this lack of compassion and total disregard to the right of life perpetrated by Eldad.
WARNING - THE FOLLOWING PHOTO IS DISTURBING TO DOG LOVERS
Let's not forget about the female Labrador left in a crate in Arizona to die a miserable death, melting in the hot desert sun. A concerned citizen went back to find this horrifying sight.
Eldad, Sharon and one other rescue were the last two to leave the site and this poor girl was left behind.
Eldad Hagar and his wife Sharon Gold have been accused of leaving this female lab to roast in its crate in the hot desert sun deliberately leaving it behind.
Finally here is my post on the
Guidestar site:
"I donated two years ago on-line. When I received a request for money postcard by mail I was turned off. They seemed to be more of a video production team evoking people's emotions from animal suffrage and salvation then a genuine charity group. They are Hollywood based amateur animal care people, untrained with any degree pertaining to their line of work having talents in the area of video production focused on saving stray abandoned pets. The owner is great with dogs.
With that said, though the owner of Hope for Paws is extremely good with animals and video production, he receives millions of hits on several videos, some within a few days. They receive Google Ad revenue and on each video ask for a donation of $5.00 If just 2% of those who visited their videos gave a donation they'd be millionaires. Their overhead is low since they do not run a vet staff they contract out. They have few employees and many volunteers some of whom are provided publicity as Hollywood based models.
When you think about it, they act as if they're in need of donations yet they don't provide any information on how they are building themselves into a real charity such as the ASPCA, SOI Dog, and others who are the real deal having risen with a lot of hard work, not by virtue of video productions alone. When I note they use Hollywood models in their recent rescue videos who are seeking publicity and name recognition for their volunteerism I have a serious question mark about Hope for Paws.
In their 2012 revenue I find it hard to believe they only grossed approximately $650,000 while their overhead left them with only about $100,000 revenue. I question the truthfulness of their reporting taxes to the government in order to hide a tax burden. All they do is rescue cats and dogs, a couple per week, give them vet care, keep them at volunteer and their own homes and then adopt them out to the Hollywood community or anyone else they choose. They have a talented production team making these videos they receive thousands of dollars a week from Google Ad revenue while they make it seem they're desperate for cash. What are their ultimate goals and objectives? What other organizations do they work with to benefit the entire animal rescue community? I'd like to see their latest gross income figures for 2014 and question why they aren't up on this site as of yet before I ever donate again.
I'm sorry, when someone apparently wasn't satisfied with my $10 donation I took the post card I received asking for more money as a violation of my privacy. I donated on-line for their video, didn't expect the aggression. I strongly felt the attempt to be taken advantage of due to the emotionalism ascribed to these videos. The audacity of Hope for Paws to ask for more money as if they need it to exist when they're doing just fine with millions of hits per video all of the time within days! 2% of those people donate $5 and they're multi millionaires! I've read about HOP donors in comments of videos claiming they can barely afford to donate $5 per month they're committed too. Hope for Paws needs a reality check to be begging for money from people who barely make a living. In the meantime, HOP better be reporting their income accurately to the Feds. I'll be waiting for the latest figures.
After I wrote this review I did search under charity reviews and found these articles:
http://www.freenewspos.com/news/article/f/271623/today/allegations-of-fraud-dog-killing-and-pet-abandonment-surround-hope-for-paws (Note: This site was up a matter over a month ago and since removed as was the Examiners leading me to believe Hope for Paws asked them to remove the article successfully)
http://thegoodthebadtheunforgivable.blogspot.com/2013/12/hope-for-paws-eldad-hagar-abandoned.html "
I thought potential donors or previous donors may want to consider this information prior to donating to Hope for Paws. If you're searching for a genuine similar type of organization, I'd highly recommend
Animal Rescue Corps. Eldad Hagar is welcome to respond to the accusations in this article but based on his previous history he won't bother to do so because he's living in denial of what a greedy evil man he truly is without Jesus in his life.
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