Two crowdfunding campaigns for Canuck the crow have been vetted and approved, easing the minds of potential donors who worried that fraudsters were taking advantage of the outpouring of compassion for the injured bird.
However, three other campaigns have disappeared from the GoFundMe website after a friend of Canuck started looking into their veracity.
Canuck now has more than 42,000 followers on the Canuck and I Facebook page set up by his human best friend, Shawn Bergman. Many wanted to do something to help Vancouver’s most popular crow after Canuck was struck on the head by a linesman’s pole at a soccer game on Saturday.
Bergman has categorically refused any donations to him personally and he asked his friend Karen Nixon to look into the five GoFundMe pages that were set up the day after news spread about the attack on Canuck.
Nixon has verified that two of the campaigns, one by Madi Hartwig and one by Matthew Paugh, are legitimate.
“I feel bad that Madi and Matthew have had so much of a negative experience by trying to do something nice,” Nixon said on Wednesday. “Unfortunately these two honest people got a lot of negative comments and accusations.”
Hartwig told the Courier that she started her campaign because it’s what she would have wanted someone to do for her if she’d been Canuck’s best friend. At the time, she didn’t know that the Night Owl Bird Hospital was donating its services to Canuck and she wanted to help Bergman cover the vet bills.
After talking with Nixon, all the funds will go to Night Owl. By Wednesday she had raised $2,280, surpassing her goal of $1,500; Paugh’s campaign has raised $480 of its $1,000 goal. That money will also go to Night Owl.
Hartwig is glad she’s been able to help Canuck. “The positivity has definitely outweighed any pessimism,” she says of some of the negative comments on her crowdfunding page.
There is another campaign, “Canuck the Crow — Let’s Raise More!” which hasn’t been authorized. So far it has received no donations.
Nixon says that Night Owl is not allowed to solicit donations on its own behalf. That doesn’t mean the bird hospital doesn’t welcome the help to cover its costs when it treats Canuck and rescue birds for free. Last week, the hospital performed surgery on an eagle and an owl, Nixon says.
Any money above and beyond that needed for Canuck’s care will be used by the hospital to defray costs for other services that it doesn’t charge for. Donations also can be made at Night Owl's clininc, by cheque or on its website.
Nixon is amazed by the outpouring of support for Canuck. “He’s changing people’s minds and opinions about how smart he is,” she says. She loves Canuck for his playful and mischievous personality but has also learned to not leave anything of value in his reach.
A paramedic, Nixon first met Canuck during a coffee run at the McDonald's at Hastings and Cassiar streets. When she offered the curious and friendly crow some food, he jumped onto her knee. Then he jumped on her chest and stole the pen from her pocket.
After a few weeks, he started lifting a ride back to her office. “He likes the feel of the wind in his feathers without having to do the work,” says Nixon. Sometimes he hops in her car and they go for a 40 minute ride, just because it’s something to do on a summer’s night. She’s posted a YouTube video of one of their rides as well as a One Smart Crow video in which Canuck opens a pouch, takes out a pea that’s inside and then uses the drawstring to close the pouch again.
The SPCA is investigating the assault against Canuck.
