User:Renamed user dj65cf874dfh44/List of cats with fraudulent diplomas

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In several cases, pet animals (most often cats) have successfully been "enrolled" in suspected diploma mills in order to investigate or demonstrate the fraudulent nature of the degrees issued by those institutions. Several such cases have received extensive media attention, and at least one cat's degree helped lead to a successful fraud prosecution against the institution that issued the degree.

Colby Nolan

Colby Nolan is a housecat who was awarded an MBA degree in 2004 by Trinity Southern University, a Dallas, Texas-based diploma mill, sparking a fraud lawsuit by the Pennsylvania attorney general's office.

Colby Nolan belongs to a deputy attorney general. In looking to expose Trinity Southern University for fraud, some undercover agents had the then six-year-old Colby Nolan obtain a bachelor's degree in business administration for $299. On the cat's application, the agents claimed that the cat had previously taken courses at a community college, worked at a fast-food restaurant, babysat, and maintained a newspaper route. Then the school informed Colby that, due to the job experience listed on his application, he was eligible for an executive MBA for $100 more. The agents then sent for Colby's transcript, which claimed that Nolan had a 3.5 grade point average.

Jerry Pappert, Pennsylvania's attorney general, filed a lawsuit against Trinity Southern University upon learning that the cat had received the degree. In the lawsuit, Pappert also told the diploma mill, which had used e-mail spam to sell degrees, to provide restitution to anyone who had ordered a degree from them.

In December 2004 the Texas Attorney General obtained a temporary restraining order under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act against Trinity Southern and its owners, Craig B. and Alton S. Poe. The court also ordered the school's assets frozen. In March 2005 the Poes were assessed fines and were ordered not to market or promote fraudulent, substandard degree programs or to represent their university as being accredited or affiliated with legitimate universities. It was reported that the Poes also were associated with the names Wesleyan International University and Prixo Southern University. Since 2005 Trinity Southern University's website at www.trinitysouthernuniversity.org is offline.

Oliver Greenhalgh

On December 11, 1967, The Times reported that Oliver Greenhalgh had been accepted as a Fellow of the English Association of Estate Agents and Valuers, after a payment of eleven guineas (his two references were not taken up). Oliver Greenhalgh was a cat belonging to Michael Greenhalgh, a cameraman with Television Wales and the West who were investigating bogus professional associations.

Henrietta Goldacre

Ben Goldacre, a UK-based science journalist, obtained a diploma in nutrition from the American Association of Nutritional Consultants for his dead cat, Henrietta, while investigating allegations about fake qualifications.

Oreo Collins

Oreo C. Collins (born circa 2007) is a tuxedo cat who gained notoriety when she received a diploma from Jefferson High School Online in 2009, although her age was misrepresented in order to qualify. The sting was an investigative operation by the Better Business Bureau of Central Georgia, which is headed by Kelvin Collins, Oreo's owner.

George the cat

"In the UK, George was registered with the British Board of Neuro Linguistic Programming (BBNLP), the United Fellowship of Hypnotherapists (UFH) and the Professional Hypnotherapy Practitioner Association (PHPA)."

Tobias F. Schaeffer

In 1986, Rhode Island real estate appraiser Roy Schaeffer obtained a Certified Real Estate Appraiser (CREA) designation from the National Association of Real Estate Appraisers (NAREA) for his cat, Tobias F (for Feline) Schaeffer. He displayed his certification above his litter box. NAREA's fraud and defamation lawsuit was dismissed after two years of legal wrangling.

Kitty O'Malley

In 1973, Florida newspaper The Ledger obtained a high school diploma from "Washington High Academy" for "Kitty O'Malley", a cat also known as Spanky. While the diploma was deemed not sufficient to gain Kitty admission to local colleges, the state attorney general's office planned to investigate the institution.

Other animals

Chester Ludlow

In June 2009 a pug dog from Vermont named Chester Ludlow received an online MBA from Rochville University. The dog's degree was shipped from a post office box in Dubai just one week after the dog submitted $499 and his resume to the online school. Along with the MBA diploma, Chester received "two sets of college transcripts, a certificate of distinction in finance, and a certificate of membership in the student council."

Sonny

On the May 30, 2007 episode of the Australian comedy show The Chaser's War on Everything, Chas got his dog Sonny a medical degree from diploma mill Ashwood University and attempted to enter him into a working practice.

See also

• List of cats
• List of cats with legitimate diplomas
• Diploma mill
• List of unaccredited institutions of higher learning
• Who's Who scam