The word Cuba with a heart emoticon in an email message window has landed a Ladner woman in hot water with PayPal.
Corry Anderson-Fennell, a long-time dog lover, owner, advocate and Delta Community Animal Shelter volunteer, has been regularly donating to a number of animal rescue organizations in Cuba following a 2015 vacation there with her husband Randy.
“I was fairly struck by the situation of the street dogs, neglected dogs, starving dogs etc., so when we got back from Cuba we started seeing what we could do and if there were any organizations supporting these dogs, which there were and we also learned that you could adopt, so we did,” she said. “A year after we got back we worked with an organization in Havana and adopted our dog Lana. Because of that experience I also became a regular donor to various organizations.”
In May, while making a donation to one of those organizations, she made the mistake of mentioning “For the Cuban strays” with a heart emoticon in the message window when she placed the donation through PayPal.
She said PayPal flagged the donation because of the word “Cuba” and reported her to the Office of Foreign Assets Control with the U.S. Department of Treasury.
PayPal temporarily suspended her account and is holding the $75 Cdn ($56 US) she tried to transfer - in a special account until she fills out a number of forms.
“Basically it is to prove I’m not supporting a Communist revolution,” she said. “Apparently, PayPal started sanctioning the word ‘Cuba’ and other words like ‘Castro’ a couple of years ago.”
Through research she said she is not the only one caught up in this, but that she seems to be the first Canadian to come forward to share her story.
“It's offensive to me that PayPal is applying the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions to me,” she added. “Canada doesn't have any sanctions against Cuba. A U.S corporation shouldn't have any control over my activities outside of the United States, and that's perhaps the larger, more worrisome issue.”
She said she is in the process of filling out the paperwork with PayPal to hopefully get her funds back, adding she will never use PayPal again for these types of transactions.
“I mostly donate through a Swiss wire transfer company called Send Value. This time I decided to use PayPal and this is when the trouble started,” she said. “It’s shocking the extent to which the U.S. government will go to ensure the suffering of another country to amplify their agenda.I was simply giving money to support animal welfare in Cuba. I’m not breaking any laws.”
