the montreal spca, canadian charity that helps abandoned cats and dogged received $13 million in donations over three years, but they ended up in the hole more than $4.5 million. now, all of these charities have one thing in common. they all have connections to a fund-raising company called quadriga art. they get paid to build mailing lists for the charity groups and that's where the money trail took drew. following the trail was one thing, getting answers was another. >> hi, how are you? >> we're not going to be doing anything on camera. >> so the bottom line is you're not going to give me an interview? where is the money going? i'm trying to reach mr. shoeloff. oh, he's not in. so here is the question raised over three years and none of the money has gone to any veterans, ma'am? >> you think if the money was going where they said it was going, everything was on the up and up, you would think they would want to be completely transparent, right? drew has been investigating this for years in some cases and they're refusing to answer, literally getting doors slammed in his face. you'll see w

new spca director was going directly into the coffers of quadriga art. the fundraising bill so large that after three years, the montreal spca, despite receiving about $13 million in donations, was in the hole more than 4.5 million. >> how do you get in debt to a fund-raiser? >> by incurring expenses and not having a plan for getting out of it. it was not a smart decision on the spca's part and we let quadriga create strategy for us. >> the strategy was simple. quadriga art would send out pleas for money on behalf of this shelter, include tote bags and other gifts made by quadriga art's chinese factory, but the costs far exceeded the donations and the spca was locked into this contract for seven years. the fundraising operation was so upside down for the montreal spca that they actually still owe quadriga art nearly $2 million and quadriga has even taken out a lien on this animal shelter. >> it's a lot of money. >> it's a lot of money but it's a lot less than the $4 million we owed them seven years ago. >> quadriga art and its president, mark shoeloff, pictured here in an ad for an unrelated charity, have repeatedly den

and the montreal spca, a canadian charity, received about $13 million in donations over three years but despite all of that money, they've ended up in the hole more than $4.5 million. all of these charities have one thing in common. they all have connections to a fundraising company called quadriga art. the company gets paid to build mailing lists. >> where is the money going? i'm trying to reach mr. shuloff? he's not in? >> here's the question. over three years and none of the money has gone to any veterans. ma'am? >> you think if the money was going where they said it was going and everything was on the up and up, you'd think they'd want to be completely transparent, right? drew has been investigating this for years in some cases, and they are refusing to answer. literally getting doors slammed in his face. tonight, you'll see what he and his producer, david fitzpatrick, have uncovered during their investigation. and later on we'll also tell you what you need to look for in order to make sure that a charity that you want to donate money to, to make sure that they are doing the right t

but the costs far exceeded the donations and the spca was locked into this contract for seven years. the fund-raising operation was so upside down for the montreal spca, that they actually still owe quadriga art nearly $2 million, and quadriga has even taken out a lien on this animal shelter. that's a lot of money. >> it is a lot of money. it is a lot less than the $4 million we owed them seven years ago. >> reporter: quadriga art and its president, mark schulhoff have refused interview requests to explain its unique process of raising money. public relations firm explained the cost of beginning and raising funds by quadriga involved long-term strategies to develop donor lists, creating databases that would eventually pay off. the spokesman told us, this, quote, has been a proven model for 50 years, despite being criticized by some charity watch groups. at the montreal spca, where the quadriga art contract has been running for nearly seven years now, the results have been a disaster. will you sign with them again? >> probably not. >> reporter: that is hardly the end of this story. my name is drew griffin. i'm with cnn. >> yes. >> reporter: meet

that is hardly the end of this story. >> my name is drew griffin and i'm with cnn. >> yes. >> meet pierre fired by the spca board only to be part of spca international from his home in montreal a rarely staffed office in new york, bernardi and quadriga art with a signature program called bag bad pups. the stated goal, reunited vets and their war pets. the televised appeal with an unwitting former military dog handler on cnn's sister network, hln in 2011, was heart warming. >> our salute to the troops today is live in the studio with jerry barns who has nugget with him and sitting right beside nugget is terri with the spca and ivy is down at my feet. >> terri with spca international was telling our viewers ivy and nugget were two bomb sniffing dogs that had worked with a u.s. contractor in iraq and had been essentially abandoned by the company. she rescued them and was trying to find them homes. an hln anchor robin meade, understandably, couldn't believe it. >> how is it that they fall through the cracks and get stranded there? that's unthinkable to me. >> it is unthinkable. that's why spca international is making sure that these dogs don't get forgotten. >> it turns out, ivy

the montreal spca, canadian charity that helps abandoned cats and dogged received $13 million in donations

in the montreal spca, a canadian charity, received about $13