Rabbit
Haven
Gig Harbor, WA
A shelter and sanctuary for unwanted and mistreated rabbits … until they all have homes.
ATTENTION!
SAVETOBY.COM WARNING
It has been brought to Rabbit Haven's
attention that there is a web site regarding a supposed rabbit named
Toby. The web site alleges that this supposed rabbit was supposedly
rescued, nursed back to health and is now their beloved pet; yet, this
same person is threatening to eat this same rabbit should the owner not
receive donations that total $50,000 by a certain date.
The language content and graphics on savetoby.com are VERY disturbing.
PLEASE DO NOT GIVE THIS PERSON ANY MONEY!
We are not convinced that Toby actually exists. In viewing the site, it was clear that the graphics located in the gallery section are of at least three different rabbits all captioned to be the same "Toby." The amount of money being demanded is an extraordinary amount that is unsubstantiated. The donation amount tracker on the web site is not through PayPal and probably is anything but accurate. The legality of this web site is unclear at this time to us; it is clear to us that this is without a doubt unethical. It is our opinion that this is nothing short of emotional extortion. There are thousands of legitimate animal rescue organizations where you may confidently contribute financially and KNOW you are helping animals in need. Please check the section "What are others doing?" below for information regarding an informative article on Snopes.com.
NBC NEWS INTERVIEW!
A news crew for NBC arrived yesterday, March 21, 2005, to interview Sue Brennan. It is tentatively scheduled to air tonight, March 22, 2005, on NBC Nightly News at 6 o'clock as they address the savetoby.com web site. The interview is been rescheduled to tentatively air tonight, April 11, 2005.
BOB PARSONS, GODADDY.COM FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, ADDRESSES THE SAVETOBY.COM ISSUE IN HIS WEBLOG.
It's not the response we were hoping for. You can read for yourself his views regarding savetoby.com in his Saturday, March 12, 2005 entry.
His claim that Sue Brennan spoke with PayPal and had the account closed is inaccurate. She was misquoted by a reporter from the East Valley Tribune. To set the record straight, we did speak with PayPal and were informed that they were looking into this. Our hopes were that they would discontinue their relationship with the site after their review of it. It is our believe that their discussion was based on the many that have spoken out regarding this site and not on ours alone. We believe strong that this is and continues to be a team effort.
Bob Parsons also states that, "Some people worry about copycat sites popping up. Quite frankly, this doesn’t trouble me. I think this type of thing only works once. I know I wouldn’t give a copycat site a second look." Unfortunately, savetoby.com IS a copycat site! There are at least two other web sites based out of the UK that were created prior to the savetoby.com web site that threatens a rabbit's life unless a set goal of money is reached. Snopes.com references yet another; though, I continue to receive a "Page Not Found" error when attempting to access the page.
He also states, "Only one thing is for certain, should Toby get cooked up, the sales of all SaveToby.com merchandise will come to a screeching halt. Ah, the power of economics." which reinforces Snopes.com's article that savetoby.com is a hoax.
Click the link below to go to the weblog for Bob Parsons.
WHAT HAVE WE DONE?
We have learned that GoDaddy.com is the company hosting this web site and have contacted them. We were informed by them that this web site is in no way illegal and to direct our concerns to them via e-mail at abuse@GoDaddy.com.
GoDaddy.com
14455 N. Hayden Rd.
Suite 219
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(480) 505-8877 24/7 Support
We have also contacted PayPal and learned that the account is being looked into. Your concerns should be directed via e-mail to aupviolations@paypal.com.
PayPal,
Inc.
2211 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95131
402-935-2050
4:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST Monday
through Friday
6:00 AM PST to 8:00 PM PST on Saturday and Sunday
Domains by Proxy have been contacted. You can view their user "Agreement" by going to http://www.domainsbyproxy.com and clicking on "How Private Registration Works." They state that "We protect your identity and only reveal it in special situations." Clicking on the "special situations" will open a window with the user agreement in it. You can also locate this information in their "Legal Issues" section of the web site. Under Section 4: DBP’S RIGHTS TO DENY, SUSPEND, TERMINATE SERVICE AND TO DISCLOSE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION it is stated:
"If it comes to DBP’s attention that You are using DBP’s services for purposes of engaging in, participating in, sponsoring or hiding Your involvement in, illegal or morally objectionable activities, including but not limited to, activities which are designed, intended to or otherwise: (i) appeal purely to the prurient interests of third parties; (ii) defame, embarrass, harm, abuse, threaten, or harass third parties; (iii) violate state or federal laws of the United States and/or foreign territories; (iv) involve hate crimes, terrorism and child pornography; (v) are tortious, vulgar, obscene, invasive of a third party’s privacy, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable; (vi) impersonate the identity of a third party; (vii) harm minors in any way; or (viii) relate to or transmit viruses, Trojan Horses, access codes, backdoors, worms, timebombs or any other code, routine, mechanism, device or item that corrupts, damages, impairs, interferes with, intercepts or misappropriates any software, hardware, firmware, network, system, data or personally identifiable information."
You can also locate contact information for making a complaint on their "Legal Issues" section.
DOMAINS
BY PROXY
Attn: Legal Complaints
15111 N. Hayden Road, Suite 160
PMB 353
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(480) 624-2599 Customer
Support 24/7
http://rnw.domainsbyproxy.com/cgi-bin/dbp.cfg/php
/enduser/ask.php
We have contacted PETA and have received the reply through e-mail and were advised in part as follows:
"You may wish to complain to the site's internet service provider (ISP) and request that the site be removed. An investigation may determine that the site's content violates the ISP's user agreement. To find the ISP of this site, please visit http://www.H4HA.org/stopcruelty/query.html. You can also submit offensive sites to the Animal Cruelty Action List at http://www.H4HA.org/stopcruelty."
Click HERE to view a copy of PETA's complete e-mail reply.
PETA
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
Tel.: 757-622-PETA (7382)
Fax: 757-622-0457
I have contacted the Attorney General's Office of Arizona and was referred to the State Law Library, Law & Research Division. http://www.azleg.state.az.us/
Attorney
General
Terry Goddard
Office of the Attorney General Department of Law
1275 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Phone: (602) 542-5025
Fax: (602) 542-4085
E-mail: ag.inquiries@azag.gov
Click HERE to view a copy of the Arizona's Attorney General's Office complete e-mail reply.
I have also contact the City Attorney for Scottsdale, but have yet to receive a reply.
City
Attorney
Joseph R. Bertoldo
3939 N Drinkwater BL
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: (480) 312-2405
Fax: (480) 312-2548
E-mail: jbertoldo@scottsdaleAZ.gov
We have contacted CafePress.com, the company hosting the shopping cart for savetoby.com, and have spoken with a member of their content usage team. We were informed that they had been notified and as of yet had not made a decision on what they planned to do. We were informed to direct our concerns through e-mail to the following address: cup@cafepress.com.
CafePress.com
Phone: 1-877-809-1659
7:00 am – 7:00 pm PT Monday
through Friday
7:00 am – 5:00 pm PT Saturday and Sunday
Content Usage Team
Phone: (510) 877-1911
I have also contacted and filed a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center and am awaiting a reply.
IFCC -
Internet Fraud Complaint Center
http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp
We have also solicited the support of numerous fellow rescuers who have eagerly joined us in an effort to put a stop to this.
EastValleyTribune.com has written an article regarding the savetoby web site. You can review the article by clicking on the following link:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=37435
Though this article claims to quote Sue Brennan as stating that she spoke with PayPal and had the account closed, this information is inaccurate. We did speak with PayPal and were informed that they were looking into this. Our hopes were that they would discontinue their relationship with the site after their review of it. It is our believe that their discussion was based on the many that have spoken out regarding this site and not on ours alone. We believe strong that this is and continues to be a team effort.
TheBostonChannel.com has gotten involved. They have an article published under their "Buyer Beware" section. You can read it by clicking on the following link:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/buyerbeware/
4190757/detail.html
About.com Urban Legands and Folklore seems to be following the savetoby.com site. Here are links to the articles that have been written as of March 13, 2005:
Orignial
Article: http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/a/146890.htm
Update #1: http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/a/151020.htm
Update #2:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/a/152160.htm
Snopes.com: Is the savetoby.com web site fact or fiction? FICTION: according to Barbara Mikkelson. She explains what makes this site a hoax and also offers some insight on buns in general.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/savetoby.asp
ReallySaveToby.Com has also gotten involved in exposing the savetoby.com web site to be a hoax. They even have a copy of the picture of "Toby" when he/she was supposedly first rescue and explains that picture in detail. The picture is no longer available on the savetoby.com web site since the revamp they did. They do still continue to exhibit pictures of at least two clearly different rabbits. This person also points out discrepancies between savetoby.com financial claims.
http://reallysavetoby.com/index2.html
WTOP Radio, serving the Washington DC and surrounding areas, searched out local reactions to the savetoby.com web site. Click below to be taken to their web site for the short article.
http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=427129
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
We strongly encourage you to contact abuse@GoDaddy.com and aupviolations@paypal.com to share with them how offensive this web site is to you and voice your concerns regarding their involvement with the site. Please feel free to share this contact information with friends, family, local animal rescues, fellow animal advocates and anyone else you can think of. If enough of us speak out against this, we are bound to be heard and something will be done. To view a copy of the Rabbit Haven e-mails sent to these companies, please click on the corresponding link below.
GoDaddy.com
E-mail
PayPal E-mail
Domains by Proxy E-mail
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