Hey guys, we are only $700 away from reaching the halfway mark in our fundraiser to Bring K9 Mattie Home! And we have now over 222,200 signatures on this petition - that's a lot of people! We have the momentum. And PWP / MSA Security is not pleased because their publicly documented misdeeds are coming to light (please see attached article from the Washington Examiner). Here is Séamus:
You amazingly motivated K9 Mattie supporters have given us invaluable help by letting the corporate bosses know how you feel through innumerable emails, phone calls, and texts, and by generous contributions which have built momentum for our fundraiser. Let’s keep it going!
MSA Security, owned by Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP), is feeling the pressure to do the right thing. Now that doesn’t mean they are ready to do the right thing just yet, since they have not yet contacted us to let us know they’re sending Mattie home. But I happen to know that your voice is being heard. It is inevitable that there will be a turning point and the forces of good will win the day.
We have one more name to add to the list (at the bottom of this page) of critical people at the company to contact. This is Justin Kelley, MSA Security’s Vice President in charge of Global Operations. He is the guy in charge of all MSA K9s around the world. Whether it was Mattie or the abuse of bomb dogs overseas, Justin was well aware of it.
Our last update was on the abuse of innocent American K9s in the Middle East, mostly in Jordan (PWP / MSA Security sends dogs to torture and death in Jordan). It turns out that PWP / MSA, which was responsible for running the program, knew all along and was keeping it secret from the government in order not to put their profitable contract at risk.
If you read the update you will know that it was Dr. Karen Iovino who brought the abuse of innocent American K9s in the Middle East to the attention of the US State Dept. and to the American public at large PWP / MSA Security fired her in retaliation for exposing them. But despite subsequent intimidation, she did not rest in her quest to save the dogs from abuse. The Inspector General’s report that was issued as a result of her complaint is damning. (We will investigate this further in a future update. If you would like to read it, it’s available here: https://www.stateoig.gov/system/files/esp-19-06.pdf) Recently, the State Department put a temporary halt on the program.
Threats, intimidation, and actual retaliation (loss of dog, loss of job, frivolous ‘vengeance’ lawsuits) are the tools they use to ensure conformity and silence at the workplace. Those who continue to work for them are enveloped in a climate of fear because nobody wants to go through what they put Dr. Iovino, or me, or numerous other ‘examples’ through. I know this both from investigative research and very personal experience.
Far be it from the company to treat their innocent dogs who earn them a lot of money as anything more than disposable machines. Perhaps they would get more out of people who work for them and avoid the increasing public awareness of their misdeeds if they just cleaned up their act.
There is at least one very simple thing they can do as an act of good will: Give Mattie back to my family. “You catch more bees with honey than with vinegar.” Can you please just do the right thing guys? Is it really so hard?
“I hope it is becoming apparent to all of you wonderful K9 Mattie supporters that it is in PWP / MSA’s cultural DNA to shroud their unethical activities in a veil of secrecy, and to retaliate with venom against those who attempt to bring them to justice.” I wrote those words for the last update, and it is as true now as it ever was.
Despite PWP / MSA being vindictive, we have no desire to be vindictive ourselves. WE JUST WANT OUR DOG BACK. This is simple matter of right and wrong, good and evil.
As always, there is more to say. Stay tuned for future updates…
WAYS TO HELP
1) THE FUNDRAISER (links below). Make a donation to Bring K9 Mattie Home through GoFundMe or PayPal. We are almost halfway to our goal! Every penny goes to Mattie. We are offering to buy her back from the company for their stated price of what it cost to train Mattie, along with any associated costs. In addition, MSA has a habit of legally turning over the dogs to their handlers when the dogs are physically broken down. All medical expenses have to be borne by the handler’s family. Maybe it’s not right, but that’s how they work.
2) CONTACTING THE PWP / MSA BOSSES. Send an email or give a call or text to the corporate bosses through the means of contact listed below. *NOTE* These guys listed here are the head honchos, but the list is not exhaustive – many other PWP and MSA contacts can be found through your favorite search engine (Google, Bing, etc.). We don’t list them all here because our email updates would end up being too long, but please feel free to contact anyone else at the company you can find!
3) SPREAD THE WORD! If share what you think of MSA and PWP on Google Reviews, or simply tell your friends and family, I believe the positive effect would end up being exponential.
And since MSA-trained K9s being sent overseas to terrible fates is a matter of national public interest and your tax dollars, contact your Congress members – Representatives and Senators – about the fraud that PWP / MSA Security is pulling on the American people.
Relevant links and contact info are contained here below. We will continue on until Mattie comes home and we can move on with our lives. THANK YOU ALL, GOD BLESS AMERICA XOXO
We would be so deeply thankful if you would consider making a donation to our fundraiser to Bring K9 Mattie Home: https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-k9-mattie-home
If you prefer to donate through PayPal, here's our link: https://www.paypal.me/seamusk9
And please let MSA & PWP know how you feel about this! Direct contact has a positive impact. CONTACT INFO:
CEO Glen Kucera (the man who made the decision to take Mattie away), 973-981-1275; gkucera@msasecurity.net
Chairman Mike O’Neil (the company’s public face), 516-491-9721;moneil@msasecurity.net
VP of Global Operations Justin Kelley (the guy in charge of all MSA K9s in the world), 860-559-9208; jkelley@msasecurity.net
K9 Training Director Mike Wynn (the person who moved Mattie across the country, out of spite, to keep her from her family), 917-923-5508; mwynn@msasecurity.net or msak9@msasecurity.net
The Perella Weinberg people who own MSA keep themselves relatively insulated; they are billionaires after all. So while we don't have their direct numbers, here are the emails of the fellas who oversee MSA:
Chip Baird, cbaird@pwpartners.com
David Ferguson, dferguson@pwpartners.com
John McKee, jmckee@pwpartners.com
Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP) main number, 212-287-3341 (Heads up: PWP falsely claims that Mattie is an MSA internal issue, that they have nothing to do with it. This is false - they are intimately involved with MSA's operations!).
MSA Security main number, 212-509-1336
As always, we encourage and welcome your feedback. Our email is: k9mattie@yahoo.com