Subject: Re: CLASS, LEGAL: Legal Issues w/ Saying "NO"
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 14:21:54 -0700
From: "Kari K. Blackburn, Counselor At Law" - laborlaw@POBOX.COM

We own a rental property. We are obligated by law to rent the unit to the first person who fits the criteria. (good enough credit, good rental history, etc...) We can't pick and choose from the applicants.

Since our wonderful legal system in the USA considers pets to be property, could a rescue get in legal hot water by not giving someone a dog just because they don't meet some small criteria?

As the owner of rental property, you are legally obligated to abide by anti- discrimination laws. (In California, it's the Fair Employment And Housing Act.) Fortunately, pets and real property are *not* analogous. I am not aware of any anti-discrimination laws relating to the adoption of pets. Someone may feel entitled to adopt an animal from a rescue group, but the animal is the rescue group's property. The rescue group has every right to decide who will adopt the animal.

It's advisable to refrain from revealing the location of the animal (in foster care) so as to avoid confrontations with former owners, pushy people wanting to adopt, etc. Recently, we went through a stressful experience with an elderly couple that dumped an aussie at a shelter, left him there for a week (could have been PTS at any time), then found out he was with us in foster care, and suddenly wanted him back (even though their situation and reasons for dumping the dog had not changed)!

Kari Blackburn
ARPH Foster Home
So Cal
----------------------------------------
Kari Kardel Blackburn, Counselor At Law
email: laborlaw@pobox.com
voice: 760/723-3887
fax: 760/723-3917
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Subject: Re: CLASS: Canada on the List
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 17:44:15 -0400
From: Tallanwood - malamute@MAIL.BANCOM.NET

Are there other Canadians on the list that may want to share information on this topic? Can you tell us briefly how things differ Molly?

Helena, you caught me flat-footed-- I know that there are differences in procedure and in law (ours is based on British Common Law). If I had more time (I've barely had time to log on this week) I would contact the volunteers in our group who are doing the paperwork for us and get some input. I won't have time until late next week.

What we have done: We have a board of directors, a constitution, and have incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation. One of our members is a CA, and is looking after our books. Another two of our members are working on the "charitable status" paperwork which will enable us to give tax-decuctible receipts to donors.

We have insurance coverage for our ongoing operations as well as for our events, and separate Directors' liability insurance.

Wish I could tell you more at this time!

Molly

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Molly Moldovan & Jim Thomson
Tallanwood Northern Dogs
Ontario, Canada (2.5 hours N.E. of Toronto!)
malamute@mail.bancom.net
****************************************
visit the Alaskan Malamute HELP League, at:
http://www.accel.net/accel/malamuterescue/
Housing, Evaluation, Love, Placement

Subject: CLASS, LEGAL: Legal Issues w/ Saying "NO"
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 18:51:08 -0400
From: hhe - hhe@UCS.NET

I know of no protected right to adopt a dog. In fact, even in rental or housing units federal law does not preclude discrimination based on all criteria. There are federally protected categories such as race, familial status, disability, etc., based on which it is illegal to discriminate. But that is not to say that someone cannot refuse to rent or sell housing just because they don't like the fact that you tie your shoes left to right instead of right to left or that you part your hair in the middle of your head (unless for example all people of one ethnic background part their hair in the middle of their head :)) rather than to the side or because they just don't like you or for any other reason as long as it is not protected by some statute. State discrimination laws may be the same as federal or broader, more often the latter. In any case where you suspect that someone feels that they are being discriminated against because of some specific such as race, religion, sex, disability, ethnicity, I would keep careful documentation as to the decision making process followed regardless of whether I was dealing with a housing issue or an adoption issue. But then, you are keeping this sort of record routinely aren't you!!!

Helena

Subject: CLASS: Charitable groups
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 18:51:14 -0400
From: hhe - hhe@UCS.NET

Many states require charitable organizations to register

Please don't confuse not-for-profit with charitable. These words do not convey the same meaning.

Helena

Subject: CLASS: OOOPS! Legal Issues w/ Saying "NO"
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 19:16:30 -0400
From: hhe - hhe@UCS.NET

I tried to be cute in my previous response (see below) and out-smarted myself.

The procedures you follow in your rescue are important for many reasons. Good procedures maximize the probability that dogs will go to appropriate home; that you will have a good reputation in the community and more. Another benefit of good procedures followed faithfully comes in the rare instance when a rescue is sued for whatever reason. What you may most likely want to show in your legal defense is the existence of reasonable procedures and that they were followed in the case at issue. This includes the use of many of the forms that have been previously discussed; the process you use to complete the forms; the interviewing process; the home visit process and the decision making process that is routinely followed and as it was followed in any particular case. Contemporaneous records of your activities are essential. If you are going to create records only in "special" circumstances, i.e. when you sense trouble is on the way... those records may indeed not only not help you but may hurt you if they convey the sense that you have deviated from your standard practice (of lousy or no documentation) in order to "cover your ass with paper." In my effort to be cute in the below response I sound as if I am saying document when you sense there may be trouble...what I am saying, and always do say is...keep good records. This applies also forcefully to the financial aspects of your rescue, particularly if you have obtained fed tax status.

Helena

Previous response follows:
I know of no protected right to adopt a dog.

big snip...

In any case where you suspect that someone feels that they are being discriminated against because of some specific such as race, religion, sex, disability, ethnicity, I would keep careful documentation as to the decision making process followed regardless of whether I was dealing with a housing issue or an adoption issue. But then, you are keeping this sort of record routinely aren't you!!!

Subject: Re: CLASS:Legal Issues w/ Saying "NO"
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 20:26:17 -0400
From: Judy Marion - iluvdogs@HUSKYNET.COM

I have a situation that is not covered on paper but I would like to throw this out to the class. This has happened several times. Someone wants a puppy that works fulltime and will not be able to housebreak it and the puppy will be sitting in a house alone for approximately 9 or 10 hours. All other issues for adoption as far as requirements are fine, such as basic requirements (according to breed) vet checked out as a good reference, etc. Yet you know that the poor puppy will be sitting alone, crying, maybe in a crate in waste so you want to turn the applicant down. Now I will not put any tiny puppy in that kind of situation and I feel it is inhumane. So, can the applicant sue you for that? Again, this is just my own situation and does not reflect what anyone else may think or do in the same situation.

Judy
NoVa Rottweiler Rescue League, Inc/MD,DC,VA
http://waikaloa.huskynet.com/rottirescue/rescue.htm

Subject: Re: CLASS: Legalities and Strays
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 19:29:58 -0500
From: Sidney Boardman - evad19@PROBE.NET

At 08:40 AM 9/17/98 -0400, Debra Freund wrote: Aren't there any legal requirements for a dog owner to identify their pet? The breeder who gave us our rescue Aussie stressed repeatedly to keep id tags on at all times. She even went so far as to tell us to keep the old tags with the previous owners name and address on it until we got a tag with our info.

Also get a blank price tag and write the new phone # on it in pencil (doesn't smear when wet) as well as pen (more readable.)

When someone notices a lost dog, maybe one they know lives somewhere in the area, the first thing they do is take the collar off to call the # on the ID tag. If the person has any dog-sense, they confine the dog first, but most people don't. The dog, having just had a stranger do something unusual to it, takes off, and the collar goes in the trash.

License laws require owners to keep license and rabies tags on their pets, but they're unenforcable. People are concerned about a collar "ruining" the dog's coat, and a lot of people are terrified dogs will get the collar or tags caught in something and strangle when the chance of running out an open door or being let out of a fence is much much greater.

Power companies have the legal right to access to meters and gas lines, and people are fined for locking gates against children and disgruntled neighbors. In some places, the fence can be cut, and that's true anywhere if there's a broken power or gas line or water main.

Even in some shelters, the worry is the dog will strangle if the tags get caught in the kennel wire, and collars and tags all too often don't get matched up with the dogs again. Shelters all too often don't look for tattoos, and don't use the scanners they were given free by the chip manufacturers.

Shelters with municipal contracts are not required to attempt to contact owners if the dog is not licensed in that municipality. People move, and the dog, alone for a few minutes in an unfamilar area, strikes out for the pack's home territory, not realizing the pack has moved. The old phone has been disconnected, the license bureau doesn't open till Monday, and the new id tag will arrive in the mail next week.

Urban areas that span more then one county are common, and a dog licensed in one county and found or picked up by a good samaritan and transported to the shelter on their way to work is considered unlicensed. (Many shelters are absolutely wonderful about trying to contact owners, but I've run into this story over and over and over.)

Well-intentioned people seldom know a submissive dog acting in a proper fashion to a stranger will come to them slowly with it's ears down and will need to be coaxed to allow itself to be petted. If a dog doesn't jump all over them, some people assume it's hand shy and has been abused. They just remove the tags and find a rescue or a friend.

People assume a matted and dirty dog is poorly cared for. They don't realize that a lost dog that cannot smell the people calling it may not recognize it's owners (they often think dogs have better eyesight than humans, and don't know dogs don't recognize faces at any distance) They assume any dog that's been on it's own for awhile isn't wanted by the owners.

Dog theft rings collect any dog that "looks purebred" remove the collars immediately and move them over at least a county, preferably a state, line before sorting out the neutered and old ones. The culls are dumped in the sorting area if they're lucky, and sold so much a pound to dog fighters if they're not.

I would like to see dog tags replaced (perhaps at the owners option,) by microchips. At least more of the shelters would use the scanners the chip manufacturers have given them.

Sidney Boardman
evad19@probe.net
co-director, USDA sponsored Missing Pet Network
http://web3.aphis.usda.gov/mpn/anlost.html

Subject: CLASS: Info on incorporating
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 20:46:19 -0400
From: hhe - hhe@UCS.NET

As you already know, the procecure for incorporating a not-for-profit will vary from State to State. Another classmate has suggested a book which may be available at your local library.

You may also want to call your Secretary of State or whatever office is responsible for handling incorporations and ask them for everything they can send you that is informative on how to incorporate specifying that it is a not-for-profit.

While you have a live person on the phone ask them questions such as how to file the papers once they are completed; whether it would be quicker if you "walked" them through rather than doing it by mail and how long the turn-around time is. What you sometimes get with these questions is answers that help you prepare your papers. For instance, in State X, as part of the approval process for incorporation all applicants whose functions include activities in any area regulated by State X (i.e. education) would have to have their documents of incorporation reviewed by the concerned state department (i.e. State of X's Department of Education). In State X the cost of each agency review is an additional $25.00. Although this is all provided for in the statutes it may escape you that the additional department's review is required until you submit your papers and find them delayed in an in-basket shuffle. Thus, knowing that this pitfall exists you may want to avoid the use of the word "education" in your documents of incorporation. One of your functions may be to educate the public but that can be re-phrased to say the same thing yet avoid the semantics that may cause an over-zealous eyebrow to raise. When you ask the question "how long is the turn around" the typical answer from the state office is, " Oh, it depends on how many agency approvals you need". My next question would be "What do you mean? or "Why do other agencies have to approve my application?" etc..

Note: This is just a wordy example to illustrate my point that you should not overlook what information is available to you from the offices that routinely handle these matters in your State and sometimes you have to ferret it out. Ask Questions!!!

There may be private services that handle incorporations for a fee. Their cost is in addition to the state filing fees of course. In some areas services will handle the filing process for anywhere from $75. to a couple of hundred dollars. Some may work only for attorneys but it certainly wouldn't hurt to do a little looking around and see if there is anything available to you and what the cost would be. If you do locate such a service they may be able to provide sample incorporation information and advice.

Look only to other similar organizations WITHIN YOUR STATE who have incorporated recently if you plan on using their papers as your framework.

***Read the applicable statutes. Your public library should be able to help or any law library if they will allow you access.

Consult an attorney.

Helena

Subject: CLASS:Legal Issues w/ Saying "NO"
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 20:55:50 -0400
From: hhe - hhe@UCS.NET

They have no grounds to sue based on what you have outlined.

Helena

At 08:26 PM 9/17/98 -0400, you wrote:
I have a situation that is not covered on paper but I would like to throw this out to the class. This has happened several times. Someone wants a puppy that works fulltime and will not be able to housebreak it and the puppy will be sitting in a house alone for approximately 9 or 10 hours.

snip...

So,can the applicant sue you for that? Again, this is just my own situation and does not reflect what anyone else may think or do in the same situation. Judy

Subject: CLASS: Info on incorporating
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 20:09:19 -0500
From: LSM - iggys@BELLSOUTH.NET

As you already know, the procecure for incorporating a not-for-profit will vary from State to State. Another classmate has suggested a book which may be available at your local library.

********
Also, though there is no substitute for real legal advice, your local office supply store may carry the forms for your state or an incorporation packet. Be sure its the official ones for your state and not just generic.

Shannon McClure
Res Ipsa IGs
Memphis
iggys@bellsouth.net

Subject: Re: CLASS: Incorporation
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 23:36:52 -0400
From: Ruth Cassidy - ruthums@PACBELL.NET

I started working on all the papers for incorporating, getting 501(c)3 status, etc., but got hung up on a couple of things.

First was the bylaws. Would anyone who's already got an APPROVED set be willing to share them as an example? I don't have the slightest idea how to go about making these things up. :\

Second was the issue of one of the officers "benefitting" in any way from the non-profit, as well as the questions about being "materially involved" (sorry if the wording's wrong, I've not looked at the paperwork for a month or so, been trying to deal with Other Stuff). SandyPaws Rescue is my baby - I'm the One And Only - all operating funds come from me. I'm looking for other animal lovers in my area to be involved, but it's tough - we're all a bunch of individuals rather than "team players" - I'm not necessarily looking for rubber-stamping yes-people (well... ;) but I don't want to spend all my time arguing with other people about how I'm gonna run MY rescue, so there!

Which makes it pretty tough to have a Board of Directors consisting of more than just me, know what I mean? ;) But I gather the IRS looks askance at one-person non-profits, and I *know* the state (Calif. in my case) wants at least two separate individuals as officers of the corporation.

I'm doing a huge adoption fair this weekend - think I'll put up a big sign that says "Help Wanted - Attorney and/or CPA for pro bono incorporation effort" - what's the chance it'll do any good?

Ruth, wondering why it all has to be so goldurned complicated!

Ruth Cassidy - ruthums@pacbell.net - CUR #361
SandyPaws Rescue of San Diego
"Basically Beagles - but we're flexible"
Wildcat Canyon Kennels & Cattery