Snopes.com, the urban legend fact checker, is jumping the train to capture some of the mass audience of animal lovers around the world incensed over the Red Cross tossing donations in Houston.
Wendy Underwood shared a video which has now been claimed by Cody Sloan who shot the viral video and updated September 12, 2017 with this video.
According to Snopes, "On 10 September 2017, a now-viral video posted to Facebook contains claims
the Red Cross in Houston, Texas
was instructed to throw out a significant quantity of food and supplies
donated by the public in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey."
Snopes goes on to quote from the video and Pit Bulls and Other Animals blog, "In the video,
the camera pans over a pile of food, bags, and crates in what appears
to be a garage, while the woman narrating it reiterates that it
consisted of donations to the organization that had been discarded. No
additional information is given."
Snopes managed to get in touch with the Red Cross whose spokesperson Elizabeth Penniman had this to say, "We work with a large number of partners, who provide bulk donations of goods to the Red Cross. There has been no directive given at any of our operations to discard or dispose of any new
The 'fact check' goes on to say Snopes has made repeated efforts to contact Underwood who resides in Waco and verify the video's origin. Pit Bulls and Other Animals has updated blogs to identify the video as having been shot by Cody Sloan from Houston who is working hard to see that the leftover donations in question are being distributed to needy pets and local Houston animal rescue organizations.
It's important to note the reason this video went viral. The Red Cross is no stranger to controversy. In fact, NPR did a series on the mysterious goings on involving $500 million dollars donated to the American Red Cross in Haiti relief: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief In response to the furor over the tossed Hurricane Harvey donations, the Red Cross has issued a lengthy statement which fails to address the trashed donations filmed in Sloan's now viral video:
The Red Cross certainly can't be accused of not waxing eloquent, but their polemic in this case only succeeds in fanning the fire. What the Red Cross doesn't seem to understand in their admonishment of the 'dangers of rumors and misinformation' is the audience to whom they're speaking. Many of those who read and passed along this information are hard-working Americans and others who wanted to help their fellows and companion animals displaced by a horrible event. From the comments left on social media, many of these good people had already caught wind of misguided funding in the hands of the Red Cross such as the ProPublica exposé: How one of the country’s most venerated charities has failed disaster victims, broken promises and made dubious claims of success.
Bottom line, people want clear answers and the response to this incident by the Red Cross is anything but.
Please refer any animal stories and Hurricane Harvey pet updates to Pit Bulls and Other Animals.
Snopes managed to get in touch with the Red Cross whose spokesperson Elizabeth Penniman had this to say, "We work with a large number of partners, who provide bulk donations of goods to the Red Cross. There has been no directive given at any of our operations to discard or dispose of any new
The 'fact check' goes on to say Snopes has made repeated efforts to contact Underwood who resides in Waco and verify the video's origin. Pit Bulls and Other Animals has updated blogs to identify the video as having been shot by Cody Sloan from Houston who is working hard to see that the leftover donations in question are being distributed to needy pets and local Houston animal rescue organizations.
It's important to note the reason this video went viral. The Red Cross is no stranger to controversy. In fact, NPR did a series on the mysterious goings on involving $500 million dollars donated to the American Red Cross in Haiti relief: In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief In response to the furor over the tossed Hurricane Harvey donations, the Red Cross has issued a lengthy statement which fails to address the trashed donations filmed in Sloan's now viral video:
The Red Cross certainly can't be accused of not waxing eloquent, but their polemic in this case only succeeds in fanning the fire. What the Red Cross doesn't seem to understand in their admonishment of the 'dangers of rumors and misinformation' is the audience to whom they're speaking. Many of those who read and passed along this information are hard-working Americans and others who wanted to help their fellows and companion animals displaced by a horrible event. From the comments left on social media, many of these good people had already caught wind of misguided funding in the hands of the Red Cross such as the ProPublica exposé: How one of the country’s most venerated charities has failed disaster victims, broken promises and made dubious claims of success.
Bottom line, people want clear answers and the response to this incident by the Red Cross is anything but.
Please refer any animal stories and Hurricane Harvey pet updates to Pit Bulls and Other Animals.
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