Well, it appears the new management at WAO finally figured out how to update the WAO's web site. Below is what I wrote to the OAG regarding the numerous problems with the WAO's website. At 9:06am this morning, someone from the OAG visited the site for themselves to see what the Cryers wrote on the WAO's home and BOD pages. Needless to say, they saw the same problems I identified!
Oh, and Nicole reported to me that all week, she saw Henry Newman (criminal not listed on the WAO's web site) along with several other men scrounging around for metal at Talley Road property. Old metal pieces were seen loaded into the WAO's truck and hauled away. If this is what Cryer means the WAO is on sound financial ground, then she is delusional. Last night at 4:48pm I tried calling the WAO to see if they would be open this Memorial Day weekend. Surprise...no answer! I guess after making all the crazy web changes at the office around 4:15pm, the Cryers called it a day.
To: James Anthony
Cc: christopher.krhovjak@oag.state.tx.us
Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 9:10 PM
Subject: Addendum - Wild Animal Orphanage - May 26, 2010
VIA E- MAIL :
TO: james.anthony@oag.state.tx.us
CC: christopher.krhovjak@oag.state.tx.us
May 26, 2010
Please accept this letter as an addendum to the original complaint letter previously submitted to your Office. The information contained herein pertains to my original complaint regarding alleged misrepresentation perpetrated by the non-profit 501 (c) (3) tax exempt organization’s owners/operators of the Animal Sanctuary of the United States, d/b/a Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO); f/k/a the Primate Sanctuary of the U.S. (PSUS), f/k/a the National Sanctuary for Retired Research Primates (NSRRP), f/k/a The San Antonio Wildlife Emergency Centre, f/k/a Primate Sanctuary of America ( PSA ); f/k/a Chimp Aid; f/k/a Cat Haven; and f/k/a Feral Cat Rehabilitation Center and Whisker’s and Wag’s Humane Society.
This email is in response to the events which transpired today on the Wild Animal Orphanage’s website at www.wildanimalorphanage.org. I have copied and pasted verbatim what was seen on the WAO’s website this afternoon after 5:00pm (see below).
The homepage
New Direction for WAO!
The WAO is under new management and direction. There are some who are using our mailing list and donors to solicit funds for "new" ventures in animal care taking. Please do not be deceived. The Wild Animal Orphanage, home to approximately 400 exotic wild animals, is one of the largest sanctuaries in the nation!
The WAO is a non-profit organization that is a 501(c)3 and authorized by the IRS and State of Texas to receive donations legally and lawfully for these animals. There is no other organization or entity legally taking donations that is going toward the care of these animals.
WAO is on a sound financial foundation and working hard to pay off the debts and inconsistencies financially of past administration. WAO has a new management structure and board of directors that brings the best of business management processes to the organization.
We do not receive any funding from Federal, State, or local government – we operate solely on the kind donations made by people like you.
The slowdown in the economy has hurt everyone, especially donations for our animals.
No donation is too small – every dollar counts toward our animals’ care. To make a donation please click here to donate by check or money order. To save costs we are no longer giving t-shirts for donations as the cost of handling, labor, materials and mail cost more than most of the donations we have received.
Click here if you want to donate using pay-pal. Thank you very much for your support during our time of need.
Michelle Cryer, Chairman of the Board
----------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wildanimalorphanage.org/about-us/bod
Board of Directors
New Directions of WAO
WAO changed its Board of Directors and management team on the 1st of April, 2010. We have extended a release with a great deal of appreciation to Elise Matthes, Sumner Matthes and William West.
Taking their places is the newly announced Chairman, Michelle Cryer, Vice-Chairman, Chris Smith, and Treasurer, Bill Hardy.
Along with the new board there are new polices [sic] that are being put in place effectively immediately.
New Policies
1. Board members or their family members may not profit from the organization's activities.
2. A board member may NOT receive a salary as a staff member of the organization.
3. No board member, nor anyone of their family may financially benefit from service to the sanctuary, nor receive any gift or emolument therefrom [sic].
4. The board of directors may not be compensated for their duties as board members.
5. In the event a motion is presented before the board, which may directly or indirectly profit or benefit a voting member or a family member, that board member will be excused from voting on that particular issue or item.
6. No board member may remove any documents from the sanctuary, nor use information belonging to the sanctuary for personal or professional gain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
New Board
Michelle Cryer, Chairman
Chris Smith, Vice-Chairman
Bill Hardy, Tresurer [sic]
Open
Open
http://www.wildanimalorphanage.org/about-us/key-staff
Office Staff and Management
Samuel Sherwood
Management Consultant
Kimberly Meyer
Accounting
Robert Mitchell
Public Relations, 210-381-1342
Debbie Sherwood
Administration, Donations
Animal Keepers Staff
Mary Reininger
Animal Care Technician
Michelle Reininger
Animal Care Technician
Mike Dereadt
Animal Care Technician
Jenny Spellman
Animal Care Technician
Kelsey Dyer
Animal Care Technician
(Part Time)
The WAO utilizes volunteers and community service workers for non-animal related work.
Animal Caregivers are responsible for the daily care of a number of different species. These duties include: sanitizing enclosures, feeding, making daily observations, and creating enrichment programs, as well as providing healthcare treatment under veterinary supervision.
Volunteers maintain the grounds and assist in office management, direct mail and fundraising projects. They also help out with enclosure construction and with the delivery of feed and other supplies.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I am absolutely stunned the new “management” team allowed the above text to be placed on the WAO’s website. Case in point:
“There are some who are using our mailing list and donors to solicit funds for "new" ventures in animal care taking. Please do not be deceived. The Wild Animal Orphanage, home to approximately 400 exotic wild animals, is one of the largest sanctuaries in the nation!
The WAO is a non-profit organization that is a 501(c)3 and authorized by the IRS and State of Texas to receive donations legally and lawfully for these animals. There is no other organization or entity legally taking donations that is going toward the care of these animals.”
Ms. Cryer acknowledged to the public that the WAO’s mailing list information was not protected from unauthorized use. WAO donors are not going to be pleased to learn that either their email or home addresses were obtained by this new “venture” and in turn, may cancel their monthly or single transaction financial support for the animals based on this alleged breach of privacy. By going public with this vague statement, Ms. Cryer acknowledged that the following statement is no longer true: “ASUS/WAO never sells or otherwise discloses customer information to any outside party and we will never provide your information to any other company or organization unless you have given us permission to do so. We respect your privacy.”
It is my personal opinion; this careless public statement was made in response to Carol Asvestas’ new website found at www.animalsasap.org. I have no proof that Carol Asvestas has the WAO’s mailing list. I do know a couple of my contacts are on the WAO’s mailing list and I have made them aware of Carol Asvestas’ new “venture” in the event she does try to use the WAO’s mailing list for her own personal gain. Thus far, no one has received any emails or newsletters from ASAP or Carol Asvestas. It is well known the Cryers and the Asvestas’ do not get along and so I believe this unsubstantiated claim was made in spite against Carol Asvestas. Personal vendettas should not be fought on the WAO’s website, especially if there is no proof of any wrong doings.
Next point:
“WAO is on a sound financial foundation and working hard to pay off the debts and inconsistencies financially of past administration. WAO has a new management structure and board of directors that brings the best of business management processes to the organization.”
and
“To save costs we are no longer giving t-shirts for donations as the cost of handling, labor, materials and mail cost more than most of the donations we have received. “
These two conflicting statements made no sense what-so-ever. How can the WAO be on a “sound financial foundation” when donations are so low the WAO can no longer cover the cost of making and mailing a WAO t-shirt ($4 per unit plus shipping costs), especially when donors must contribute $25 or more towards the animals’ care?
The WAO t-shirts were an excellent way of publically advertising the WAO’s existence. I wore my WAO t-shirt every Saturday and I cannot tell you how often I was stopped and asked about my t-shirt at various shopping establishments. T-shirt sales were up in March and April due to the increased amount of visitors at the WAO Leslie Road property. Due to their surge in popularity, we were in the process of redesigning the t-shirts with new animal pictures, slogans, and the web address information to be printed on the back of each t-shirt. Sadly, this source of revenue has dried up for the WAO.
Point:
The WAO website indicated: “WAO changed its Board of Directors and management team on the 1st of April, 2010.” This statement is wholly inaccurate. Two WAO board directors, Michelle Cryer and Sumner Matthes, seized control of the WAO on May 1, 2010. It was also my understanding Sumner Matthes and Elise Matthes quit the board of directors two weeks later and Will West quit the board of directors approximately 1-2 months ago. I believe the following statement, found on the WAO’s website, to be false: “We have extended a release with a great deal of appreciation to Elise Matthes, Sumner Matthes and William West.”
“Taking their places is the newly announced Chairman, Michelle Cryer, Vice-Chairman, Chris Smith, and Treasurer, Bill Hardy.” This begs the question—who is the President and Secretary of the WAO Board of Directors? Why are they using the words “chairman” and “vice-chairman?” I believe the public should know whether Ms. Cryer is an “executive chairman” or a “non-executive chairman.” For you see, an executive chairman is someone who combines the role of CEO with Chairman, so basically she chairs all the meetings, decides all the outcomes, and runs the WAO’s day to day business.
If she is a non-executive chairman, then her role is to chair meetings and give advice based on her “work” experience but does not have a major day to day role in the WAO’s affairs. This type of chairman is not 'THE' boss, but tends to share power with someone like the “CEO.” Since I did not see a “CEO” listed on the website, one might interpret Ms. Cryer is filling the role of “executive chairman,” unless of course, her husband is still filling the role of “director” or “CEO,” and for some reason, the Cryers elected not to post his name under the office staff and management list. Now typically, a person must be elected into the “chairman” position. If two weeks ago, Ms. Cryer was the lone board director, then how was she able to fill the role of “chairman” let alone vote other members onto the board? When did this new board form? May 26, 2010? Who vetted Bill Hardy and Chris Smith and what is their relationship to Michelle. Cryer? Bar buddies? Friends? Co-workers? People they met while on probation? What are their credentials to effectively operate this non-profit organization? Interesting enough, a Vice-Chairman typically takes on the responsibilities of a chairman in her absence. Therefore, exactly how is this board any different from when the Asvestas’ operated the WAO and “led” the board of directors?
Also, did the chairman rewrite the WAO’s by-laws to reflect the changes made to directors’ titles? “Along with the new board there are new polices [sic] that are being put in place effectively immediately.” [May 26, 2010]:
New Policies
1. Board members or their family members may not profit from the organization's activities.
2. A board member may NOT receive a salary as a staff member of the organization.
3. No board member, nor anyone of their family may financially benefit from service to the sanctuary, nor receive any gift or emolument therefrom [sic].
4. The board of directors may not be compensated for their duties as board members.
5. In the event a motion is presented before the board, which may directly or indirectly profit or benefit a voting member or a family member, that board member will be excused from voting on that particular issue or item.
6. No board member may remove any documents from the sanctuary, nor use information belonging to the sanctuary for personal or professional gain.
As far as I can tell, the only new “policy” was item #6. This may be in response to the WAO’s new direction home page claim. Was this new policy approved by the board of directors [chairmen] or was this a policy arbitrarily created by Ms. Cryer? Also, based on this statement, can employees remove any documents from the sanctuary for personal use or gain or does this only apply to “board members?"
It appears they may only be one or two individuals working in the WAO office each week, but as to the WAO operational hours, it is difficult to gage when the WAO is open for business, since telephone calls in the morning go directly to voice mail along with calls made after 4:00pm. For the last two weekends, no one has picked up the telephones.
Based on the very limited office staff listed, it appears the WAO suspended its educational tours, which was the original basis for IRS tax-exemption.
As to the statement, “The WAO utilizes volunteers and community service workers for non-animal related work,” I would be greatly concerned if volunteers [maintaining the grounds] were working around the animals at the WAO right now in light of the limited staff available to supervise the volunteers [liability of injury to volunteers and animals]. From what I understand, adult probation has not resumed sending probationers to the WAO and Juvenile Probation suspended the WAO work crew program.
I am curious as to how the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s Office handled this change to the WAO’s board of directors. Legally, can one director essentially create an entirely new board, without any approval or oversight from the Secretary of State or Texas Attorney’s Office, without first winding down and then filing a new certificate of formation?
According to the Texas Secretary of State’s frequently asked questions website:
Can one person be the sole director and officer of a nonprofit corporation?
No. The Texas Business Organizations Code requires a nonprofit corporation to have at least three directors, one president, and one secretary. The same person cannot be both the president and secretary. Officers and directors must be natural persons, but may be known by other titles.
As of today, the Texas Secretary of State records shows the WAO’s registered agent as Ron Asvestas, and Michelle Cryer is listed as “co secretary.”
As usual, I encourage the Texas Attorney General’s Office, to take a more active role, other than that of “monitoring,” to ensure the WAO does not misrepresent itself to the general public and to protect approximately 398 wild and domestic animals that call the WAO home.
No comments:
Post a Comment