Let’s Adopt! Global (LAG) is an animal rescue organization founded in Turkey in 2008 by Viktor Larkhill and Fulya Ulusoy. Since 2011 it has had headquarters in Massachusetts, USA. It is a non-profit animal rescue. Yet for some reason which I am yet to fathom it courts massive controversy. One possible reason, it is said, is that Viktor Larkhill is an outspoken person who has rubbed people up the wrong way. There is a bunch of women who have publicly claimed on Facebook and perhaps other online media that the owners of Let’s Adopt! Global are acting fraudulently. These are the “LAG haters”.
Update July 2022: His organisation is now called Let’s Adopt International. Their website tells us that the rescue organisation began on January 8, 2008 in Istanbul Turkey. Viktor Larkhill tells us that his desire to rescue animals came when he stood outside a veterinary clinic in the rain while his dog, Simba, died on the operating table when he shouldn’t have. He implies that it was because of a lack of proper care due to a lack of facilities which caused Simba’s death. The next day he embarked “upon a mission that would change the lives of thousands of animals and their families”. He says that over the years his rescue became known for “veterinary excellence at the service of homeless animals”. His rescue started to receive “pleas for help from the world over for animals in extreme conditions, abused animals with impossible injuries”. They say that they are in extreme rescue because “we will go to the end of the earth to save a life. Extreme because we only work with the very best veterinarians, contributing to progress and excellence in veterinary medicine”. And finally, “because we live in a cruel world and aim to be a beacon of hope for animals that are otherwise abandoned to die alone.”
The charity is registered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands by the way. And if you leave a legacy in your will you need to have their tax ID which is on the website.
This page was written on April 10, 2015. That’s more than seven years ago. People have commented and their comments may help us understand the situation. There is a video (date March 30, 2022) in the comments section of his rescue. He is courting more controversy because his rescue center (or one of them) is in a residential area and his neighbour is giving him hell – please scroll down to see the comment and video. I don’t know in which country this rescue is based. His neighbour appears to be speaking in Spanish. I think therefore this is in Spain. It does seem a bit murky but I can’t criticise because I don’t know. His name is a bit strange because isn’t he Turkish? Perhaps he has changed his name?
To be fair there is a lot of fraud in animal rescue because there is potentially, a lot of money to be made in animal rescue on social media, particularly Facebook. There are many animal lovers with some disposable income. You can tap into it if you are smart. I called it the dark side of animal rescue. But I don’t know enough about LAG to make an assessment as to their honesty. From what I see they do fantastic work, genuinely rescuing animals. Here is a video on their YouTube page. Their Facebook page is used to encourage donations.
Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.
I’ll write a page later today about a lion rescue that they are involved in. They do present a bold image, perhaps brash and brazen which may upset some people. But if it is effective, who cares?
Things became heated and serious. What appears to be constant sniping and criticism by detractors forced LAG management to commence defamation proceedings in the summer of 2013. I don’t know the outcome, which is strange. There are 38 defendants in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany and Turkey.
One of the defendants is a newspaper: Toronto Pet Daily. Another is Barbara Nemeth who I believe is an American. She counter sued or was prepared to sue in a civil action of harassment against the management of LAG.
LAG state in the defamation papers that they are…
the victim of a defamation campaign led by the defendants against its good name and reputation. According to the claim, some of the most egregious allegations by the defendants accuse Let’s Adopt! Global of stealing donation money for the personal gain of its officers; that Let’s Adopt! Global tortures, murders, and rapes animals; and that Let’s Adopt! Global defrauds its donors.
Also, a website has been created by supporters of Let’s Adopt! Global. Click here to see it.
The authors of the website state that…
a group of women have been trying their best to harass, sabotage and hinder Let’s Adopt! Global in and outside of Facebook with only one goal in mind: to undermine and destroy the work of Viktor Larkhill and LAG.
As there are 38 defendants there are quite a lot of people who are against Let’s Adopt! Global. Why? What evidence is there? Can someone assist in a comment?
Below are some more articles on animal rescue.
I never thought I’d have to comment on Viktor Larkhill but I now will. Whilst this “pandemic” stalled normal life as we all know with many businesses having to close their doors forever, thus many people becoming unemployed, animal lovers world wide of course wondered rightfully how this would impact rescue organisations around the globe. Knowing that Spain has more KILL than NON-KILL shelters, I of course kept watching update videos of Viktor Larkhill on YouTube, where we learned of him 2 years earlier.As we expected things to become frugal for Viktor due to that exact fact that he’d probably lose a lot of supporters due to people’s financial restraints, we were initially surprised to see his initial compassionate videos in which he told his supporters to take care of their families first and that he’d understand if people couldn’t give at the moment due to their own problems during the pandemic. Then suddenly videos were posted that his neighbor (he never mentioned if that was a NEW neighbor or why this had never been an issue before) was harassing them, for the incessant barking of dogs (which btw could be heard throughout the video in the background)! Of course, we as everyone else, knew that MANY people globally who used to be at their jobs during the day were suddenly either completely out of work, due to LOCKDOWN measures, or they were sent off into “home office” meaning, they’d do whatever work from their respective homes. He never mentioned this neighbor before, so we too thought, he’d seek to reach out to the lady and try to find an amicable solution for both. But Viktor instead rather questioned if the Lady who did yell very mean things throughout his posted recording, possibly had mental issues. Viktor claims to have animal behavior therapists on his team. Well, if you run an animal rescue in a residential area, you need to make sure that your animals do not become a problem to your neighbors. Instead of whining about the Lady next door, he could have tried to make sure that the dog/s incessantly barking throughout his video would receive ample therapy/training to stop the continuous barking. But Victor made no such efforts. It’s clear to most rescues, that dogs which bark up a storm are no good candidates for adoption. Especially in/throughout Europe it is normal that people live door to door/wall to wall and people do get in trouble with authorities if they home a dog that proves a constant nuisance barking all day, carrying steep fines to being forced to surrender such an animal as you cannot make YOUR dog a problem to the entire neighborhood! Next Viktor kept posting a rather naive/offensive video basically alleging, that those who rightfully refuse to have themselves vaccinated against Covid19 as of yet, are stupid to believe they might be “magnetized/chipped”! This made me very angry too. Is Mr. Larkhill a medical doctor? Nope he is NOT! So why on earth would you offend people who have a right to refuse the vaccine altogether or to wait until the producers of the vaccine have eliminated the many deadly spontaneous SAB’s, sinus bleeds, thrombosis, strokes! Who is he to think he has the right to imply people are stupid for not wanting the vaccine as of yet? Next comes an “exciting announcement video”, where Viktor’s brother now launches a channel supposedly updating viewers on the part of the rescue dealing with the “behind the scenes/day to day operations”! Might that have to do with the pending legal drama, around the use (legitimate) of funds? We don’t know…but we are allowed to be suspicious! And in between rescue videos asking for donations/support, suddenly a video implying that some sort of new DREAM residence/”sanctuary” is in the making long time viewers even more suspicious…where is the money for such a rather expensive” project suddenly coming from? Does anyone else find this rather suspicious? The economy has become very expensive, prices for food, everyday needs has risen drastically since the economy has been allowed to open up again and most people are financially hurt from the lockdown measures. To spend money building makes people question the desperate video pleas for donations over the past month! We no longer hear how the situation with the next-door neighbor developed…nothing. Call me a fool but I call this suspicious! I and 2 befriended families whom we made aware of the Viktor Larkhill animal rescue, stopped our support since the very rude video of Viktor getting his vaccination.
What are your thoughts on this rather new development of “building” his “dream sanctuary” amidst a world-wide recession/depression/inflation?
hi,
every dog from the moment of rescue to the moment of being fully healed down to being homed should be displayed on you tube for all to see.
then we will all be happy and at peace and it only adds a few more minutes on you tube so where is the problem, transparency
Just google Viktor larkhill or Let’s Adopt International you will see he (Viktor aka several other aliases) was arrested in October 2020 for being suppected of fraud. Taking our money, living a lavish lifestyle and only spending 10-15% of donor money on the animals. He’s a fraud.
Takis Shelter in Greece is the real deal if you want to see a real animal rescue hero. Then you’ll understand there’s no way Viktor is using the proceeds from YouTube etc for the animals. It’s mostly for himself 😡
Well it can be difficult picking a charity. I am cynical about charities. Dubious. Unsure.
So which org. do you trust? Now I can’t believe either side. So the animals suffer.
Hi! I am an animal lover and parenting two rescued cats since 2015.
I started to suspect that Viktor Larkhill’s youtube channel is a scam because of some details that called my attention.
In one of the horrific videos on direct animal abuse that he filmed and uploaded as usual, I found something shocking. It was a video where some supposed Spanish hunters were pushing some greyhounds over a cliff. Not only Viktor recorded the whole process (honestly I couldn’t or at least I would have approached these monsters and started taking some kind of action, or at least call the police) but also I was petrified when I heard his own voice describing the facts.. At a given moment, he even mocked at the situation as if “tuning in” with the hunter’s mood. He said in a laughing, joking tone: “Hey! You are dropping your dogs!” (this was obviously recorded in Spanish, and it is my second mother tongue, so I couldn’t be wrong. Despite that, I heard the comments 4 or 5 times more to be sure. That gave me chills and a gut feeling of profound distrust towards this guy and all what surrounds him.
In a couple of stories he uploaded some weird details called my attention. I don’t know how to describe it. His actions don’t match his words, and less, his mission.
Moreover, every story that he posts shows such extreme cruelty to a different animal that it seems impossible so much abuse can happen. It looks like a display of abuse and the way he asks for funds betrays him because the images are shocking and he knows dog and cat lovers will succumb to his calls.
I feel sad because when my intuition bell rings, it is usually in the right path.
But the saddest part of all this is that who is in charge of the situation? Is there someone who can really follow every step this fake organization takes and can provide any evidence so that justice can intervene?
On the other hand, I guess some of the comments supporting mr. Larkhill’s organization are fake, too. Even his own name, Viktor Larkhill is a fake name for Ivan Jiménez.