The Board of Directors and the Admins of SSR are highly aware that more transparency is needed regarding information on how donated funds are used. The information we need to convey does not lend itself easily to social media posts – especially at this beginning stage when we are researching older invoices and putting together pieces with incomplete access to financials. As such, we will periodically be releasing a series of "Treasurer's Reports" via our blog.
Treasurer's Report - 05/28/2024
SSR Nation,
We are aware of the many comments and accusations that dogs are not being cared for and bills are not being paid. We want to assure that is not the case. While the SSR management team currently has no access to any donations made on any electronic platform (PayPal, Venmo, GiveButter, Cashapp), we do have control of our bank account. This means we have access to enough funds to allow us to continue to care for the dogs we have committed to, and work on paying the current monies owed to vets for prior services.
As of Monday May 27th, 15 vets have received payment totaling just under $22,000. There are some roadblocks, such as not having access to the electronic portals required to pay certain transport and boarding companies who do not accept cards. We are working to pay these outstanding bills via check.
We continue to find old invoices and statements that have been unaddressed, and are working to take care of these balances. Invoices paid are following customary accounting practices – they must be made out to SSR (we have a few invoices made out to individuals where we are unclear if former SSR Vice President Jennifer Aufdenberg (JQA) authorized the vet to bill SSR for these services.). We are paying off of invoices – not statements of monies owed – to ensure the invoices are for dogs listed in the SSR system or who have been adopted already.
While posting every invoice paid with an explanation would take extensive time, we do want to focus on three payments in this post to let you know how we are spending the donated dollars we are able to access. These three situations will be:
Captain/Tre – The most recent SSR fundraiser
Pacino & Luna – Pacino, an existing SSR dog with a severe head injury, and Luna, a Billy’s Street Mission dog who developed medical issues upon arrival on the East Coast
Billy’s Street Mission SSR fundraiser as a whole
**Note that pricing for individual vet services has been blocked out to protect the vet's proprietary business information.
Captain
One of the last SSR fundraisers on Facebook, we believe, was for Captain and raised about $6,000. Since we do not have access to the other portals we do not currently know what additional funds might have been raised for his care.
Captain required an amputation, but is now recovered enough to go into pre-transport quarantine, and will move north when a foster or adopter is found. The total amount billed for his intake, surgery, medical boarding was $6,127.17. This invoice has been paid in full – see photos below.
Total due for Captain
Payments made to clear invoice
First page of multi-page invoice
Pacino and Luna
Pacino was found as a stray running around the RGV in Texas with an apparent headwound. After SSR caught him, it was determined that he was likely hit in the head with a machete or similar weapon. Upon arrival on the east coast, it was determined by his primary vet that he needed an urgent CT to determine the extent of his injuries.
Boy was it a shock to see the extent of the damage imaging uncovered! Pacino had surgery in February to close the wound in his head, and is recovering super well. He recently got the all clear from his veterinary team to be adopted! His adoption happened on April 10th, which concluded his expenses with SSR.
Luna is recovering with a foster. She was one of the Billy Street dogs, who made her way east before it was discovered she was pregnant. Ultimately, unfortunately, she went into premature labor and lost her puppies. We are thankful to be able to share that she is recovering nicely with her foster family, and we hope she will be ready for her next step in finding an adoptive family soon.
Below you will find another statement from a vet indicating six cleared invoices.
The invoices paid under the above invoice were:
Below are copies of the largest invoices:
Billy’s Street Mission
Because we do not have access to the electronic portals, we are unsure how much was actually raised in the name of Billy’s Street Mission.
We do know that a Give Butter Campaign raised $13,219, and that a donor JQA thanked paid one week of boarding costs to a vet. That total was $5,546.49, so there were at least $18,765.99 available in SSR funds specifically donated for the Billy Street dogs.
In addition, there is a pledge for $25,000 toward their care. About 70% of those funds have been used to pay invoices for Cookie and Ruger’s puppies, the puppies rescued by JQA in SSR’s TikTok video, and additional puppies grabbed from Billy’s Street. We are looking forward to a complete accounting of all the Billy Street Dogs and their expenses, but for now want to share with you the details below. We have used up most of the funding from the dedicated fundraisers we currently are aware of, and will continue to dig into records as they become available.
Give Butter: $13,219.00
JQA Donor: $5,546.99
Total Available: $18,765.99
These are expenses paid – or in the process of being paid – for the Billy Street Mission.
We hope providing this breakdown gives you a sense of where donations are going, and we will continue to update this blog series with more financial information as we get organized and continue our work to care for these dogs.
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