TekkaMakkiSushi | 45 points | Nov 18 2016 08:35:37

Welfare organizations as fronts for trafficking. How they work and how to investigate them. (Some insights from wildlife trafficking)

I initially made this comment and felt prudent to post it on it's own. There’s been some talk that human trafficking rings are fronting as shelters, foster homes and child welfare charities.

This actually makes a lot of sense because other types of trafficking works this way. I work closely with wildlife sanctuaries, and a lot of wildlife rescues, sanctuaries and conservation efforts are fronts for wildlife trafficking. It's a multimillion-dollar backend business. They pick up animals from owner surrendering them, or seize them from circuses, private collections, and zoos.

Animals are then either sold into private hands, or euthanized "for their own benefit", and then sold for parts, or they are bred and the babies are then passed off to dealers to be sold. They're never sold straight up, always traded for large donations of either facilities or favors or money. This is a huge in Big Cat Rescue, where tiger bones, skin and the parts are worth a lot of money.

Government officials are complicit, because they will write the violations which seize the animals, and then transfer the animals to sanctuaries. In some states and abroad, the law is written in a way to offer harsher penalties to people that pursue legal recourse. For example in california, if you have exotic animals seized, paying the fine and losing your animal is a mere citation. If you fight it, it automatically becomes a misdemeanor, and then escalates as you move up. This is designed to discourage owners from taking legal action.

There's zero oversight for these welfare organizations. The public believes that this is for the benefit of the animal. How many times have you heard of the sentiment that captive animals are being abused and should go to a sanctuary? Many rescues and their complicit organizations also promote the idea to the public that a rescue is the only proper place for these animals.

I've worked with wildlife organizations quite a bit and have seen some pretty serious deals go down behind the scenes of wildlife rescue and sanctuaries. It’s my belief that MOST trafficking crimes front was welfare organizations and I’d like to offer some insight into how they work and what to look for.

LOOK AT THE DONORS

There are 2 types of donors.

Well meaning donors, are people who genuinely think they are helping will donate small amounts, items like food and toys, as well as volunteer.

Shady donors will donate large sums of money. Facilities like buildings, or land. Or renovations to existing buildings, like a new wing to the building. Vehicles, along with access or influence. Positive press and coverage can also be donated. Jobs or perks for family members…..etc.

If there is a donor that is known to be shady, then ALL of the rescues it donates to should be looked into.

There’s 2 kinds of bad rescues:

1. Bad ones that start out as fronts for trafficking

2. Good ones that are forced into it from donation dependency.

Rescues and sanctuaries are nonprofit. They are kept alive solely on donations, and efforts to generate funds on a nondonation basis (selling/breeding) are generally frowned on.

For example. wildlife rescue are constantly strapped for money, but if the rescue were to charge people to pet the tiger, or charge a thousand bucks to rent the tiger to an even, that's deeply frowned upon. Even if it ultimately generates funds that helps the animals. This dependency on donations can make even GOOD rescues do morally questionable things. If you run a rescue with 200 animals and need 3K for rent by the end of the week, what would you be willing to do?

For the most part, these are older well known organizations. New rescues are better funded and less likely to bend. It’s a number of years in when the burnout and lack of funds sets in that breaks them. By that time they have established a reputation for taking in the needy but dont have the resources. It the law of diminishing returns. The longer you operate, the better known you become, the more people will come to you, but the less funds you have.

WHAT CAN BE OFFERED TO ENTICE OR REWARD DONORS? Donations are almost never without strings, what can a rescue offer to donors in return? The following is my experience from wildlife rescues, but may apply to child rescues as well.

1. Access. : A lot of exotic animal rescues will sell access. Donate a moderate to a big cat sanctuary and you get to pet the tiger and play with it, perhaps get a private tour. Donate a large amount and you can expect to have a tiger at your private party. It might even know some tricks to impress guests. Donate well or regularly and you can expect a couple animals at every party, gala, fundraiser to keep the guests entertained. They also often provide animals for photoshoots, films and questionable videos…. Think of it as animal rental. Or in your case, perhaps child rental.

2. Parts trafficking : Wildlife trafficking is big on animal parts. A lot of rescues will offer valuable parts out their back door. This is especially true for conservation efforts or rescues with lots of animals. The tiger temple in thailand that was busted with a bunch of dead tigers in their fridge was one of these. It works like this: A donor donates a large sum and mentions he likes tiger bone wine. A tiger at the sanctuary dies of “disease” soon after, and the body is sent to a taxidermist. The taxidermist skins the animal and returns the skin to the sanctuary, the rest of the body is “discarded” to a renderer that then sends the bones to the donor. Skin goes to another donor. Sometimes the animals may even die of natural causes and then be kept and proffered for profit.

For parts trafficking there will be a go to person that collects the remains that won't rouse any suspicion, usually a taxidermist. In your case, would there be a go to person, and who would they be?

1. Breeding and breeding loans. : Exotic animals get bred at rescues and the babies get are sent to private foster homes, and are then sold, for a healthy donation to the rescue. They also often get sent out for breeding loans so the rescue can charge a stud fee. This is why you see well known breeders of good quality lines get busted and have their animals seized for very minor or nonexistent violations.

I understand that alot of this may apply only to wildlife trafficking by take from that what you will and think about what a orphan shelter, or a child “rescue” facility can provide to donors.

WHERE TO GET YOUR STOCK Where do wildlife traffickers operating as a rescue get their inventory?

Crisis profiteering: Stock is taken from the wild for their own benefit. Animals are often take for supposed9 and local wildlife officials are tied together.

When animals are seized, there's a hefty fine so the officials benefit on top of a kickback from the rescue. If officials seize animals and have a “go to” rescue they send them to, you can be SURE 9 times out of 10 that they are in bed together. This is shockingly common at the state and even the federal level.

I have some suspicions that this is why “child protection” agencies are so quick to seize children,....perhaps look into where they are sending them.

HOW TO CHIP AWAY AT THE FACADE

What should you look for when you’re looking into the legitimacy of a welfare organization? These are questions I would ask.

• Who donates to these welfare organizations? Who makes large donations? What do they donate?
• What kind facilities does the welfare organization operate out of? Who owns the building? Who pays the rent? Do they have any off site facilities? Who owns/pays for those?
• Who attends their fundraisers? Who promotes them? Whose events do they attend? Say if you see a welfare organization rep attending a private party, or a fundraiser dinner. It’s reasonable to assume they might bring presents too….

• Look for donated benefits. Did someone’s family get a job offer somewhere? Or a large contract? Or a large donation?

• Look into families or other welfare organizations that have lost custody. Who seized the children? Was the family cited, or fined? Remember the officials want their cut too.

• Who has custody of the children now? How much money/action does it take to get them back and who gets this money?

• Look for citations or endangerment charges placed on families who have their children seized. What were they charged for? Find the families on social media and see what the story is. Does the family have a reasonable chance of getting the kids back?

• Who has sued the organization that seized the children and why? Has the welfare organization been sued , and why? What is the litigation history of these organizations?

• Does the welfare organization have volunteers? Remember there’s 2 types of donors. Well meaning donors who think they are genuinely helping will care about child welfare. These guys can help. Talk to a volunteer at the organization. Ask about volunteering yourself and ask about experiences. Have they seen anything that rubs them the wrong way?

• Is there a listing of “adoptable” kids somewhere? How would “donors” view potential “inventory?” Are there photos of donors visiting? Every visit is a private tour.

Anyone else with insight is welcome to add to this.

Remember…. Quid pro Quo. There’s no such thing as a free donation.

permalink