PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — ACCT Philly is seeking answers after allegations surfaced with one of their rescue partners that a dog transferred from the shelter was shot while in the partner’s care.<\/p>\n
The dog, Biggie Smalls, was a senior dog with medical issues who had been transferred from ACCT Philly to the care of a New Jersey-based rescue partner, Gone Rogue Girls.<\/p>\n
ACCT Philly says it learned the dog had died, but it’s still unclear when.<\/p>\n
“We were able to confirm the dog was shot,” said Sarah Barnett, the executive director of ACCT Philly.<\/p>\n
According to ACCT Philly, concerns about the rescue partner recently came to light and included allegations that a dog had been shot.<\/p>\n
“It recently came to light there was some concerns about a rescue partner, that include allegations of shooting a dog,” said Barnett.<\/p>\n
Like many animal shelters, ACCT Philly works with rescue organizations that take animals into their care. Barnett said the shelter has requirements for rescue partners before working with them.<\/p>\n
“We have requirements for them; not just filling out a form, we ask for references and require that you worked with a shelter before,” she said.<\/p>\n
ACCT Philly said the allegations came to light Tuesday. Since then, all dogs have been removed from the care of Gone Rogue Girls. The shelter also said the organization’s founder is now unreachable.<\/p>\n
“Concerning when you run an organization, all the animals are relying on you, all the foster homes relying on you,” noted Barnett.<\/p>\n
The rescue’s social media channels have been deactivated, its website is no longer active, and its phone number has been disconnected.<\/p>\n
“It’s stupid when you run an organization; you can’t just shut down if you made a mistake; you have to be honest about it and move forward,” she added.<\/p>\n
People with ties to the rescue have also raised additional concerns. They pointed to a social media post shared in the spring that stated Biggie had cancer and had been laid to rest.<\/p>\n
Tyfanee Fortuna disputed that account.<\/p>\n
“They asked for donations in his memory, but he had already been shot a month earlier, and he was never taken to a vet or diagnosed with cancer,” Fortuna said.<\/p>\n
Fortuna said she is now helping track dogs that were in the rescue’s care and looking into reports that some may be unaccounted for.<\/p>\n
“It was found there was a large number of dogs that were listed as deceased and a lot listed as ‘returned to owner,'” Fortuna said.<\/p>\n
She added that some records included the dog’s listed with an adopter’s address as “I don’t know drive” and emails as “I don’t know.”<\/p>\n
Pemberton police said they are aware of the allegations but could not comment on the situation at this time.<\/p>\n
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