From Séamus: Hi K9 Mattie supporters! My family wishes a happy and joyous Passover to all who are about to celebrate it. I have some new info on our recent important announcements. Also, I want to touch on one of the most vexing questions of our struggle - Why isn’t PWP / MSA Security giving K9 Mattie back to her family?
- FUNDRAISER BREAKTHROUGH! A very generous and committed donor has offered to match up to $2,500 in donations to help get us over the top on GoFundMe and on PayPal. We have already received the first $900 of the matching due to the amazing boost in contributions we received over the weekend. The finish line is in sight - We are 81% of the way there, only 4k left to go!!
Please consider donating as much as you are comfortable with to unlock the rest of this matching gift; every contribution is important and greatly appreciated.
I look forward to holding my dog in my arms again, like in the photo here from happier times. We WILL Bring K9 Mattie Home!!
For more background info on our fundraiser, read here: Fundraiser goals and outcomes
- A SUCCESS STORY! We are constantly encouraged by stories similar to ours which have a happy ending. A supporter named Lisa alerted us to this piece of news about K9 Harry; the town sold him back to his handler after initially refusing: Harry The K9 Is Coming Home
“It is likely heated pressure from the community and around the world that played a role in the change of heart. Nearly 100,000 people signed an online petition and numerous council members were lobbied by locals.”
Note that we have 227,000 signatures and similar public support, but PWP / MSA Security is a tougher nut to crack.
- PWP / MSA SECURITY’S SICK CULTURE. But why? What could be so hard about giving K9 Mattie back to her family? The frustration of so many of you echoes our own frustration.
As a supporter named Christine put it,
What’s so difficult to figure out is, why does it matter so much to this company if it (Mattie) goes off to live its retirement in a home with people it loves?
They need to replace dogs all the time, it seems rather strange.
A high profile NYC attorney who is highly sympathetic to our plight gave us some precious insight into how PWP / MSA thinks. He has much experience in fighting corrupt companies, including MSA. Apparently they are the worst he has ever experienced:
It’s stunning actually, it’s absolutely stunning. I’ve never quite seen anything like this. But it’s to be expected. They’re snakes in the grass, in every possible way; and they’re very different in that regard, there’s no moral basis here. And you know, I’m not that ignorant to know, I’ve seen this before, I’ve just never seen it to this degree before.
Mattie means to world to my family, she means nothing to the PWP / MSA executives who took her away, who never even met her. But power and control does mean a lot to them, and they act accordingly. But they cannot be immune to the damage to their reputation they brought on themselves. As a K9 Mattie supporter named Chris expressed it:
So what is the deal with them not letting Mattie go home? Is it solely because they know they did wrong? Then make it right by sending Mattie home! That's all this company needs to do and this will all go away quicker than it came up.
- COVID-19 TASK FORCE. I feel compelled to share with you that I am now part of the military response to the coronavirus emergency in the New York City area. As a member of the Task Force in these busy times, I am not sure when my duties will allow me the opportunity to put out these updates and do all the behind the scenes work for Mattie, which is a full-time job in itself. However, I wish to assure you that our fight to Bring K9 Mattie Home continues unabated. The only thing that is affected is the consistency of timing for our efforts.
The values of duty and honor to God, family, and country which motivate my military service are the same ones that motivate my family’s battle to bring our dog back where she belongs.
We will continue on until Mattie comes home and we can move on with our lives. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and GOD BLESS AMERICA XOXO
WAYS TO HELP
1) THE FUNDRAISER. Make a donation to Bring K9 Mattie Home through GoFundMe or PayPal. 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.
Today we stand at 81% of the way to our goal!! The momentum you have given us is taking us to the real goal - bringing Mattie home xoxoxo
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.
They don’t know how to handle you; they know the public eye is on them, especially during this crisis. And so every email, text, and phone call counts.
*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 have included a few here above in the main body of the update.
3) SPREAD THE WORD! If share what you think of MSA and PWP on public forums, 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 (read: PWP / MSA Security sends dogs to torture and death in Jordan) 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.
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Relevant links & contact info are contained here below.
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 (and the next 4 numbers can also be texted):
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
And of course, we welcome your feedback. Our email is: k9mattie@yahoo.com