A months-long tussle with a hacker has impaired the rescue organization entrusted with finding homes for over 80 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dogs, most of which the Pierce County Sheriff's Department found in a Lakebay trailer in August.
Someone hacked into and took control of The American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rescue Trust's Facebook account Aug. 13, according to a press release from the organization. It was the same day the Pierce County Sheriff's Department told The News Tribune about the successful rescue operation they'd done in July.
"It was very bad timing," Renee Bruns, national director of the volunteer-run nonprofit, told The News Tribune Oct. 31.
The Pierce County Sheriff's Department said they found the 68 dogs when they received a complaint from a person who bought a King Charles Spaniel puppy that tested positive for parvovirus, a potentially deadly disease that affects canines' gastrointestinal tracts and white blood cells. Sgt. Darren Moss said the alleged dog breeder who sold the sick puppy had three previous animal offenses with the sheriff's department.
When deputies arrived with a search warrant at the home in Lakebay July 18, they found a large group of dogs, including four to six female dogs with their litters. Many were "found sick and lethargic" and caged without water, and several tested positive for parvovirus, The News Tribune reported. According to a Facebook post by the sheriff's department, one dog died en route to the vet and two had to be euthanized because they were too sick with parvovirus.
Deputies handed the rescued dogs over to The American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rescue Trust, a 501(c)(3) organization that operates a nationwide foster home system for "Cavaliers in need who have been lost, abandoned or are unwanted," according to director Bruns and their website. The organization was founded and is still managed by breeders, and it's their "way of giving back to the breed that (they) love so much," she said.
The website doesn't list a headquarters location, but IRS records show they're based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The 60-plus dogs The Trust took in from the rescue grew to over 80 because seven litters were born when the dogs were rescued or soon afterward, according to Bruns. During the initial intake, veterinarians tested the dogs for distemper, parvovirus and vaccinated them for both that and rabies. Staff also put microchips in each dog and took pictures so they could keep track of them. Most ended up in very good condition when The Trust took them in, she said.
The Trust sent the adult dogs that could be transported to locations across the country with area coordinators, foster homes and veterinary care that could handle the new arrivals, according to Bruns. She reached out to local breeder friends to take in the pregnant dogs too fragile for the road, and those breeders helped them whelp, or give birth, in their own homes.
She told The News Tribune all 28 puppies that were born during the rescue or afterward have been adopted. A total of 22 dogs are still up for adoption, including at least three "retired moms" that still need homes in the Puget Sound area. People interested in adopting a Cavalier from The Trust can fill out their adoption form online.
Bruns' personal Facebook account was the first to be hacked when someone linked her account to an "inappropriate" Instagram account, she said. The hacker gained access to The Trust's Facebook account because Bruns created it and it was linked to her personal account.
Though Bruns has made several reports to Meta, including with their hacking report form, the company has done nothing, she told The News Tribune.
She said they've also tried passing on their issue through contacts who work at Meta or have personal connections there and shared copies of email threads they exchanged. Though their efforts helped Bruns get her personal account back, they weren't able to get the main rescue trust account fixed.
Earlier this month, Bruns said they filed a cybercrime report to the FBI.
The Trust's Facebook page, which the hacker appears to have renamed to "USA Cavalier King Rescue Trust," shows commenters responding to errors and oddities in the posts after the hacking. One post on Sept. 1 displays a comment from a user accusing the account of using a photo of her friend's dogs from 10 years earlier without permission, demanding that it be removed. Another post Sept. 4 shows a picture of a puppy on the grass that isn't a Cavalier.
The most recent post Oct. 10 appears to be an admission of wrongdoing.
"please connect me to the real owner i wanna return the page," the post says in white text on a black background. It's followed by a phone number with a foreign country area code.
Bruns shared screenshots with The News Tribune showing a message chat with a person who demanded that Bruns pay $200 in exchange for getting the account returned. Bruns said she refuses to do that, since there's no guarantee the account will actually be returned.
The hacking is impacting the rescue trust's ability to raise funding by connecting with their supporters on social media, according to Bruns. While they do have a separate Instagram account that's still functioning, it only has a little over 8,000 followers. Their Facebook following reaches about 23,000.
The organization could start a new page, but rebuilding that base will take time, Bruns said.
23,000 followers "doesn't happen overnight," she said. "That happened over many, many years."
More information about The American Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Rescue Trust, including how to surrender a dog, report a dog in need of rescue, adopt a dog, volunteer or donate, is available at www.cavalierrescuetrust.org.
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