The ups and downs of the continuing roller coaster ride now is shared with someone other than myself for a change!
The new director, in just one week, experienced a lot of highs and lows. To start off, the pseudo-sanctuary’s CPA for over 10 years, apparently did not want the new director to review the 2008 990 for more than 15 minutes prior to its mail time, else the document would be late to the IRS. So the director and its new CPA only had about 15 minutes to review and sign the document before it had to be taken to the post office.
When it was sent to me, after the fact for my opinion, I was shocked and dismayed. It was ½ completed and there was a lot of conflicting information on the return. It was absolutely terrible. To make matters worse, there were no schedules attached to the document which was sent to the IRS.
The sanctuary director called the CPA, who just happened to be out of town, for an explanation. After hearing her concerns, his only response was he made a mistake; he brought the “draft” to the sanctuary for signature and not the “original” document which should have been signed and sent to the IRS.
How can any legitimate CPA make such a mistake? He allegedly prepared the 990 with attachments, and he did not bother to take the time to make sure he brought the right forms to the sanctuary for the new director’s signature?
The so-called professional CPA was hired to produce a professional document which the board members rely upon to be true and correct to the best of his knowledge, and he let everyone down. Not only that, he did not have the 2008 financial statements prepared—allegedly claiming he would submit them at a later time! What??? How can you complete the 2008 990 without the financial statements?
Now the IRS will really go nuts over this return because the core information was simply left off. Granted, the CPA said he would go over the corrected copy with the new director next week, but sadly, it will be late—really late. And with the Thanksgiving Holiday week thrown in, mail time will further delay the amended document to the IRS.
I cannot imagine the OAG will be happy with this latest turn of events.
So, this was the first major challenge. Next was the director’s decision to speak with an employee, whom initially showed potential working at the facility, but for some reason, started taking advantage of the new director and staff, resulting in his decision to voluntary leave the facility yesterday. After sending the director a couple of heated emails after he resigned, a strange call was made to a local news station, claiming one of the sanctuary’s baboons was loose and someone should cover the story. Dubious, the news station called to verify whether or not the sanctuary was missing a baboon. The director contacted the animal care takers and they conducted an animal head count, confirming all primates were present and accounted for. This got me thinking, a legitimate call would have been made to law enforcement (i.e. police or sheriff) claiming the concerned citizen saw a monkey running around and was wondering if someone lost their pet, not to the one of the local media outlets. Interesting to note, that not many people know how to identify a particular type of non-human primate—especially if the animal is on the move and moving fast!
The week did have some positive results – the animal enrichment toys were delivered last and this week—thanks to the kind donations received from County employees! The sanctuary plans to hold an after-Thanksgiving event, where Bubba (white tiger), T’Savo (lioness), the wolf pups and wolf group, and monkeys will receive special treats! I’m so excited Bubba will finally receive his first-ever toy at the sanctuary! He really needs something fun to play with which will keep him physically active and mentally motivated. One of the local television stations said they would cover the event, assuming they are not short of cameramen to cover the event.
Also, one of our local radio stations plans to interview the new director for 30 minutes and air the program in December, one week before the Animals’ Christmas Party! This will be great exposure because it will be aired on three other radio stations at the same time.
Now, hold on to your hat, because the ride is going down again.
One of the former board members that left the sanctuary’s board of directors in protest when the former male pseudo-sanctuary director was fired (as the female former director thankfully quit and walked out of the board meeting) posted the most off-the-wall comments on the local newspaper’s comment section of the original on-line article.
Here are some snippets from his posted comments:
“It is remarkable how the fact that [new director] went after her own family is being down played. Any descent family member would stand by their parents not attack them. This shows that she has no loyalty other to herself. Sad but true. "I do it for the animals" that is the classic phrase she hides behind.”
Wow! This guy just doesn’t get it, does he?
“This is really the sad story of an upset daughter throwing a temper tantrum and hurting her parents to get self-satisfaction. It is really pathetic. Unfortunately the remaining board members at the [sanctuary] are not going to admit that they have made a mistake by believing [new director’s] accusations. The [pseudo-sanctuary] is what it is today thanks to [former pseudo-sanctuary directors], never forget that.”
I love the comments made by the next commenter:
“What concerns me greatly is [the former board member] reference to "loyalty." What of the loyalty to the animals that lived at the [sanctuary]? It appears [the former board member] was on the board for over a year and during that period, did he at any time look into the investigations conducted by the State and Federal offices, or did he rely on his "loyalty" to his friends, the [former pseudo-sanctuary directors], that everything would be “okay?” Did he ever file an Open Records request to obtain the documents on file with the government offices or did he abrogate his responsibilities to the animals? I would love to read his explanation in an upcoming article as to why he turned the other way and did not fulfill his responsibility as a board member to protect and defend the sanctuary’s animals.
The new director, in just one week, experienced a lot of highs and lows. To start off, the pseudo-sanctuary’s CPA for over 10 years, apparently did not want the new director to review the 2008 990 for more than 15 minutes prior to its mail time, else the document would be late to the IRS. So the director and its new CPA only had about 15 minutes to review and sign the document before it had to be taken to the post office.
When it was sent to me, after the fact for my opinion, I was shocked and dismayed. It was ½ completed and there was a lot of conflicting information on the return. It was absolutely terrible. To make matters worse, there were no schedules attached to the document which was sent to the IRS.
The sanctuary director called the CPA, who just happened to be out of town, for an explanation. After hearing her concerns, his only response was he made a mistake; he brought the “draft” to the sanctuary for signature and not the “original” document which should have been signed and sent to the IRS.
How can any legitimate CPA make such a mistake? He allegedly prepared the 990 with attachments, and he did not bother to take the time to make sure he brought the right forms to the sanctuary for the new director’s signature?
The so-called professional CPA was hired to produce a professional document which the board members rely upon to be true and correct to the best of his knowledge, and he let everyone down. Not only that, he did not have the 2008 financial statements prepared—allegedly claiming he would submit them at a later time! What??? How can you complete the 2008 990 without the financial statements?
Now the IRS will really go nuts over this return because the core information was simply left off. Granted, the CPA said he would go over the corrected copy with the new director next week, but sadly, it will be late—really late. And with the Thanksgiving Holiday week thrown in, mail time will further delay the amended document to the IRS.
I cannot imagine the OAG will be happy with this latest turn of events.
So, this was the first major challenge. Next was the director’s decision to speak with an employee, whom initially showed potential working at the facility, but for some reason, started taking advantage of the new director and staff, resulting in his decision to voluntary leave the facility yesterday. After sending the director a couple of heated emails after he resigned, a strange call was made to a local news station, claiming one of the sanctuary’s baboons was loose and someone should cover the story. Dubious, the news station called to verify whether or not the sanctuary was missing a baboon. The director contacted the animal care takers and they conducted an animal head count, confirming all primates were present and accounted for. This got me thinking, a legitimate call would have been made to law enforcement (i.e. police or sheriff) claiming the concerned citizen saw a monkey running around and was wondering if someone lost their pet, not to the one of the local media outlets. Interesting to note, that not many people know how to identify a particular type of non-human primate—especially if the animal is on the move and moving fast!
The week did have some positive results – the animal enrichment toys were delivered last and this week—thanks to the kind donations received from County employees! The sanctuary plans to hold an after-Thanksgiving event, where Bubba (white tiger), T’Savo (lioness), the wolf pups and wolf group, and monkeys will receive special treats! I’m so excited Bubba will finally receive his first-ever toy at the sanctuary! He really needs something fun to play with which will keep him physically active and mentally motivated. One of the local television stations said they would cover the event, assuming they are not short of cameramen to cover the event.
Also, one of our local radio stations plans to interview the new director for 30 minutes and air the program in December, one week before the Animals’ Christmas Party! This will be great exposure because it will be aired on three other radio stations at the same time.
Now, hold on to your hat, because the ride is going down again.
One of the former board members that left the sanctuary’s board of directors in protest when the former male pseudo-sanctuary director was fired (as the female former director thankfully quit and walked out of the board meeting) posted the most off-the-wall comments on the local newspaper’s comment section of the original on-line article.
Here are some snippets from his posted comments:
“It is remarkable how the fact that [new director] went after her own family is being down played. Any descent family member would stand by their parents not attack them. This shows that she has no loyalty other to herself. Sad but true. "I do it for the animals" that is the classic phrase she hides behind.”
Wow! This guy just doesn’t get it, does he?
“This is really the sad story of an upset daughter throwing a temper tantrum and hurting her parents to get self-satisfaction. It is really pathetic. Unfortunately the remaining board members at the [sanctuary] are not going to admit that they have made a mistake by believing [new director’s] accusations. The [pseudo-sanctuary] is what it is today thanks to [former pseudo-sanctuary directors], never forget that.”
I love the comments made by the next commenter:
“What concerns me greatly is [the former board member] reference to "loyalty." What of the loyalty to the animals that lived at the [sanctuary]? It appears [the former board member] was on the board for over a year and during that period, did he at any time look into the investigations conducted by the State and Federal offices, or did he rely on his "loyalty" to his friends, the [former pseudo-sanctuary directors], that everything would be “okay?” Did he ever file an Open Records request to obtain the documents on file with the government offices or did he abrogate his responsibilities to the animals? I would love to read his explanation in an upcoming article as to why he turned the other way and did not fulfill his responsibility as a board member to protect and defend the sanctuary’s animals.
What ever [new director’s] motivations, and least she understood the difference between right and wrong. Hypothetically, if someone is committing an illegal act, causing the deaths of many, do you just stand-by, or do you collect evidence to support your allegations and then go to the authorities? Or, do you just sit back and look the other way, and "hope" things will just get miraculously better?
It takes courage to stand up to one’s family in the face of serious transgressions made against the very ones the [sanctuary] was supposed to protect and defend [the former board member] never made any reference to what HE DID to protect the animals, what investigative action he took in light of the serious allegations made against the [former pseudo-sanctuary directors], to ensure the funds and the animals were protected. His failure to act as a “legitimate” board member leads one to believe he was an active participant in the “Animal Wrongs” committed at this sanctuary. Shame on you, [former board member]. Shame on you. Like Anonymous wrote on 11-10-09, “Learn the truth before speaking out.””
The former board member truly displays his ignorance in the next thread he posted after the newspaper editor requests the former board member contact him so he can interview him for a follow-up story. The former board member’s response to the writer?
“We can communicate through this thread for now, if you do not mind.”
What a coward! It appears he was afraid to answer some really tough questions regarding his actions (more like in actions) when it came to protecting the sanctuary’s animals! Instead of explaining what he did during the investigative process to protect the animals and the incoming donations, he purposely choose to side stepped the issue and attacked the new director, claiming he never saw any wrong doings at the pseudo-sanctuary during his time he was on the board for approximately 2 1/2 years. He also had the audacity to claim all but one of the investigations by federal or state agencies were closed. Yikes! Either he is totally delusional, a crazed liar, or just simply uninformed. Why chose? I go with all three choices!
The newspaper writer asked numerous times for the former board member to call him and set up an appointment to discuss this case on the record. Needless to say, the former board member refused and instead chose to use this comment forum as an opportunity to bash the sanctuary's board of director members and the new director. In frustration, the magazine writer wrote:
"I'm not going to debate with you here. This is the last time I write to you about this. This is a forum for readers. If you have something to show me, show your face and show me what you got, and we'll talk for as long as you want, and I'll record and publish every single word of it. I'm not the one trying to avoid anything.
So far, no response from the former board member. Buc...Buc...Buc...bucacccck!
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