“You know, someone is working – and again, these are all things being looked at, to show and process. Because, again, I’m not alone in this,” Santos said, even as he insisted he handled the majority of the charity’s operations.
“I am the poop picker, the cleaner, the finder, the online campaigns,” he said. “But we have a broader group of people who have helped.”
Ms. Spadavecchia is not the only one to express concerns about the way Mr. Santos handles Friends of Pets United funds. In late 2016, GoFundMe received a complaint about a fundraiser Mr. Santos ran to help a veteran, Richard Osthoff, raise money for his dog’s surgery, a spokesman for know.
Mr. Osthoff, who met Mr. Santos previous report of local news site Patch, did not respond to a request for an interview. But a friend, Michael Boll, who was involved in the incident, provided a screenshot of a text message between Mr Santos and Mr Osthoff.
According to Mr. Boll, Mr. Osthoff learned that his dog, Sapphire, had a tumor that required $3,000 for surgery. Mr Boll said at the time Mr Osthoff, 47, was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and lived in a tent.
A veterinary technician named Andrea Dos Santos connected Mr Osthoff with Mr Santos, saying that Friends of Pets United could assist.
