Inquiry: East Tennessee Reptile Rescue

Ms. Mynatt,
Have you filed articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State's Office?
Do you have your Tax ID Number?
Those are a couple of the first steps that should be taken long before you begin calling yourself a non profit.
We also take in unwanted reptiles but rejected the 501/non profit idea because I do not like jumping through hoops. We rehome the rescues that come to us, for free, and I well know the costs involved in rescues. The money you need to have set aside for vet bills alone is more than many can afford. Then there are the spare buildings, caging/enclosures etc etc etc.
The difference between us is that we would never consider attempting to commit fraud by claiming we are a non profit unless we have the paperwork in our hands.
Well there is another difference I suppose, we would never try selling one of our animals as a rescue either.

Ms. LeBlanc,
You're right, I forgot Morti is from Tennessee but now resides in Kentucky. Okay, I'm getting old.

The difference between you John E. Dove and (Kevin Hamilton I might ad) and most other people on this forum is that we are all here to help one another - not to condemn each other. If you both had the spirit of this forum in mind you would have contacted Sonnie personally first about your concerns instead of rushing to judgment and slandering her publicly! You both owe her an apology instead of continually running her down even after she has demonstrated good intentions. How does this help anyone? I'd be ashamed of myself if I ran a fellow forum member down without ever having communicated directly with them and you should be too. Our goal is to help people and give them good advice. If then they continue down the wrong path have at it but what you two have done is wrong - I wonder what your motivations really are.

Tony Savage

Sorry Mr. Savage but I owe her nothing.
She is listing herself as a non profit rescue when she does not have that legal standing as I stated, and she is trying to pass off a snake she has for sale as a rescue for "Adoption" on her illegitimate not for profit rescue site.
If she were doing neither of these things I would indeed owe her an appology but since she I doing as stated......

I thought the gestapo ended with WW2 I guess I was wrong.

They had several ads on Craigslist. Apparently they were being flagged so much that they started putting stuff like "Those who flag are sad" in their titles. I wish I had taken a screen shot.

I don't see the local legitimate dog and cat rescues advertising "we will take unwanted animals" everywhere. The local small animal rescues don't even post ads like that.

I'm not saying that anyone involved in this rescue is a bad person or mistreats their animals. I just take issue with someone calling themself a rescue when they are nothing more than a reseller who begs for free animals.

Just out of curiosity who do you use as an exotics vet?

Originally Posted by TrulyRare

Any body who has ever done or has a rescue, that 501, is VERY exspensive, it costs over 600 just to start the paper work. Without donations, and such, and putting money BACK into the rescue, its hard to just make that paper work show up. I'm under someone who is 501, and you can start a rescue under the supervision of them. I followed HER suggestion and posted the snake, as the snake was indeed, a rescue. I've put way more than, that into the snake, feeding, housing, etc. over the past year, after I've been trying to find it a new home. But I'm not just gonna give a free snake away, because most people want free animals. I paid 10 dollars for a dying savannah, and got it back to eating, being healthy, etc. and then turned around and REHOMED FOR FREE! ..there is NO money to be made in this game. I'll be under money. I have a seperate account, that is for this rescue in my bank accounts, and we have less than 100 to start this on. You can make donations but you do understand you will be doing it on your own will, and not getting the paper work for tax dedutable. Until, we get bigger, have more money, and more donations going towards the rescue. I'm not out to sell the reptiles, that snake is well worth alot more than its adoption fee. But I'm more worried it getting a good home, than anything. Ive been offered more money, but to someone without knowledge, and jumping a gun. Our rescue is non profit, if i was out to make a buck, i would have picked up a lot more animals by now, as I am well known in the reptile community around here. I don't think you yourself, know a lot about rescues, or you would know how exspensive it is to start a 501, and all that. it takes time and money, HECK i only started this on thursday...so..judge how you want, you are in colorado, and i'm in tennessee. come visit, I'll gladly show you around

Ive been to colorado, beautiful state.

if you don't have the $600 for paperwork than maybe a rescue is not the way to go. you need plenty of extra dough to start a legitimate rescue, not to mention the free time.

I got together with East TN Reptile resource for the obvious reasons, because I love herps, particularly boas and pythons. I got on here to try and provide a bit of personal information about Sonnie and the rescue as I am personally involved in it. My first experience with her was the re homing of a redtail boa, I did get it from her and I was not charged for the snake (so I think that would imply she isn't in it for the money). By the way that snake is in great health, eats and sheds well. While at this time she may not have all her t's crossed and i's dotted, she is a very genuine individual who cares a great deal for the reptiles she rescues, it is just like any new venture, there may be some paperwork that needs to be delt with but I would hope the concern here has to do with the best intrest of the animals and in that she is quite genuine. I personally know she takes great care of all the animals in her care, and before we did any business together she insisted on knowing that I did the same. I am also starting a herpotological society here through the University of Tennessee so I am interested in working with the best people in the area when it comes to herps.
Any questions about the honesty of her rescue I think should be put to rest by the many references in this thread. I know that the way the world is now it is natural to be suspect of anyone and everyone, but Sonnie has the requisite knowledge, support and most importantly heart for this kind of work, and I think her rescue will be very valuable to this area. I would not be involved otherwise. Though many people are interested in herps for many reasons, there is a very real need for rescues, particularly some of the large breeds I work with are too often surrendered when there size potential is reached. I hope this info helps, and I hope that the East TN Reptile rescue is a success, not for Sonnie or for me, but for these most amazing of all biological treasures.

When did the schools in Tennessee remove spelling from their curriculum?

Originally Posted by Gecko_Den

When did the schools in Tennessee remove spelling from their curriculum?

I lived there.. And I could never tell they ever had them..

Ms. Mynatt,
Believe it or not we really do not wish to stop you from starting a reptile rescue. Quite the opposite actually, I would love to know there is another resource I can refer people to when they need the help.
The problem lies in the route you are taking. You cannot start out declaring non profit status when you are not.
If I may make a suggestion; Change your rescue web site to state that you are not yet a non profit but you are working on getting your 501. Tell people that any donations, to help pay the high cost of getting your 501, would be greatly appreciated. Heck you could even add a page where the supporters who helped make the ETRR possible could be listed to show your appreciation which might encourage more participation.
In short, be totally open and honest about everything, don't leave yourself open to have your integrity questioned. That would of course also apply to your Craig's List ads if you are posting there for free animals.