Section Two: Legal issues

There is no way possible for us to put all the laws from all over this country into one single blog entry.  This is where you will need to do some leg work on your own.  Call your county zoning office to see if there are limits on the number of pets you can have in one home.  Call your local county animal shelter to see what the rules are for keeping pets.  Call your state's business licensing office to see if you are required to have a state license and what the steps are to get one.  I will go over what we have here in Tennessee, but if you're in another state you'll need to check into that yourself.  You can contact other larger rescues in your area and ask for help.  Keep in mind the previous blog; they don't know you and you may not get an answer or it may not be overly friendly.  If you get a negative rescue, move on and find one that is willing to help you out.

The first step is to get your federal EIN.  Visit this link:  https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/legal-structure.jsp

Choose the tax exempt radio button at the bottom.
Select other non-profit / tax exempt
Select starting a new business
Select individual
Complete form and select authorized member / officer of the organization
Fill out each page of the form.  When you get to the selections for the type, choose other and type in pet rescue in the other box.

Submit application.


Next submit your application for a TN state business license here:  https://tnbear.tn.gov/ECommerce/RegistrationInstr.aspx

The next step is deciding if a 501c3 federal non-profit is worth it for you.  In over 20 years of rescue I never felt that it was something that would be enough of a benefit to the rescue to file.  However, if your plan is for a very large scale rescue, possibly putting up a building or writing grants to help with spay / neuter campaigns, transport vehicles, etc., then a 501c3 will be hugely beneficial to you.  However, if you plan on staying smaller there is no need to go through the time, expense and hassle of filing.

The benefits of a 501c3 are:

• the ability to write grants
• some of the more behind the times shelters do still require a rescue to have a 501c3 to pull
• ability to fund raise for donations (some states will still require you file with their solicitations department as well and TN is one of those states!)
• Large pet corporations like Petco and PetSmart will work exclusively with 501c3 rescues
• If you travel for rescue related reasons you can have the taxes on your purchases omitted

The complications of a 501c3 are:

• Time and expense of filing; it costs about $1000 to file and that's not including attorney's fees.  Receiving the confirmation of your 501c3 can take up to 2 years!  
• You must keep meticulous records of every single penny in your record and submit annual tax reports
• Filing requires an entire board of directors for your rescue, mission statements, etc.

As you can see, there are some great reasons to go through with the 501c3 filing.  Just keep in mind that filing is expensive and you must maintain your records as you can and will be audited.  For me, that $1000 was better used for spay / neuter in my community locally.  Also, you can always start with just the EIN and business license and file for the 501c3 later on if you feel you need it.  

As you get into rescue and meet others in it, you'll find that in many ways that you can use the 501c3, other rescues will help you as well.  For example, it's common for a rescue that doesn't have their 501c3 to have a rescue that does have their pull a dog from a shelter that requires the paperwork.  Also, when food donations come available if you're working with a rescue that does have their 501c3 they can add in the number of animals you handle annually to get enough additional food to donate to you also.  

Lastly, there are liabilities in rescue that anyone interested in doing it needs to be aware of.  Just as our own pets can be the cause of a lawsuit, so can pets in your rescue.  Laws that apply to our personal pets will also apply to foster pets in your rescue.  If a rescue pet bites someone, you're liable for that as well.  Even after adoption, if a pet bites the new adopter or someone that they're around, you can be held liable for that as well.  It's why complete honesty and meticulous record keeping in rescue are so very important.  If you have a friend in the state that's a lawyer, they will be your greatest asset.  If you're in a situation to put down a retainer for an attorney should the worst happen, it could certainly prove to be beneficial in the long run.  I'm not saying it's necessary and I'm not saying you'll have problems.  In all the time I've done this I've never had a single legal problem.  However, it's something that needs to be kept in mind.

So, let's move on to Section Three!