A man has been charged with animal cruelty after setting up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his puppy after he broke its back legs and eventually killed it.
Reid Herjo from Medford, New Jersey, allegedly broke Atlas’s bones before setting up the GoFundMe page asking people to contribute towards the dog's vet bills.
On the site, Mr Herjo claimed that himself and the dog had been injured in a hit and run, but police later discovered this was not the case.
The fraudster accumulated £9864 ($14000) from 693 people in under a month.
Medford Township police officers discovered the scam when they pulled Mr Herjo over for speeding in January.
Mr Herjo told officers he was taking 14-week-old Atlas to the vets because he has been hit by a vehicle.
The puppy had numerous fractures and needed surgery, officers said.
Police said they received information five days later which led them to believe that Mr Herjo was not telling the truth.
They later determined that the dog’s injuries had been inflicted by Mr Herjo.
He had only owned the puppy for six weeks but it had suffered two injuries on separate occasions during that time.
Mr Herjo allegedly claimed that the dog had fallen down the stairs in December last year and had fallen down a hill in January this year.
Police said Atlas died on February 3 after suffering additional injuries in Mr Herjo’s care.
A GoFundMe spokesman said: "This user has violated GoFundMe’s terms of service, and all donors will receive a refund.
“Additionally, this user has been banned from our platform. It's important to remember that our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that in the rare case that GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user finds campaigns are misused, donors are fully protected and will get their money back. Additionally, we are working with law enforcement on their investigation.
“Additionally, it's important to remember that misuse is extremely rare on our platform. Campaigns with misuse make up less than one tenth of one percent of all campaigns.
“With that said, there are unfortunate and rare instances where people create campaigns with the intention to take advantage of others' generosity.”
Mr Herjo was charged on March 28 with third-degree animal cruelty and third-degree theft by deception.
