Business as Usual...

Well....  It's been 9 days since the Bernalillo County Zoning Commissioner handed down his decision regarding the neighbors requesting a variance to allow them to run a donkey rescue, the Edgewood Longears Safehouse, in a residential neighborhood.  The Commissioner, Nick Hamm, DENIED their request.  However, it's still "business as usual" down there...  donkeys coming & donkeys going, all at $300 a pop!

The NM Livestock Board page says,

"No persons, facilities or organizations other than those listed below are recognized by the State of New Mexico as equine rescue, sanctuary or retirement facilities.  Any efforts by any individual, facility or organization to promote such a facility and/or solicit donations or funds for such a facility not currently on this list should be reported to the New Mexico Livestock Board office or the New Mexico Attorney General's Office."

• The neighbors do NOT have a NM Business License;
• The neighbors are NOT a sanctioned rescue as determined by the NM Livestock Board;
• The neighbors are NOT a registered charity in the State of New Mexico;
• The neighbors do NOT have their own Federal EIN as a recognized charity (no 501(c)3);  
• And, the neighbors have been DENIED a zoning variance to operate a donkey rescue on their property.

Yet, they continue to thumb their noses at everyone and at New Mexico laws.  They act as if they are above the laws.

I contacted the AG's office,

"I am looking to see if the referenced organization is a registered charity in the State of New Mexico.  As far as I am aware, they are operating illegally as they are not sanctioned by the New Mexico Livestock Board as an equine rescue.  And, they are accepting donations from the public."

The reply received in return indicated that the AG's office is working with them, after the fact, to get them the required "registration as a charitable organization with our office."

A followup email to the respondent asked, 

"They have been soliciting donations for 2 years, since the Summer 2011, without being sanctioned and without proper zoning.  Is it OK for them to solicit and accept donations from the public, even though they are not a sanctioned equine rescue facility as required by the state?"

Replies seem to indicate that the Charitable division of the AG's office doesn't care that the neighbors are accepting donations and calling themselves a charity, when so much indicates that they are not, i.e., no tax exempt status, no business license, not sanctioned by the NMLB, and not registered as a charity in the state with the AG's office.

"It is not prohibited by the Charitable Solicitations Act which is the law we are authorized to enforce.  I am not able to determine whether it is prohibited by another law, such as the one which requires equine rescue facilities to be approved by the Livestock Board.  I do not even know if animals besides horses are covered by the statute, since it refers specifically to 'horse'."

Donkeys are members of the equine family, which is why they can breed with horses to make mules. Everything I've seen on the NMLB site says "equine rescue" and one of the sanctioned rescues listed on their page specifically states "donkey".

Lucy's Pasture Donkey Sanctuary

4745 Franklin Rd SE

Deming, NM 88030

http://www.lucyspasture.com/

Anyway, inquiring minds want to know what's happening to those donations?   Are those donations being used strictly for the "saved" animals or are they also being used for their personal pets?

Donkey shelters built with scrap materials

They state on their various webpages that they've saved near 80 donkeys.  That comes up to about $24,000.  Yet, they're begging people for fencing, for feed, for vet care, and for anything else one thinks a donkey rescue could need.  They've built ramshackle shelters in the pens out of scrap materials.  (Done without a building permit.)

Backside of the Ramshackle Shelters

They are still collecting donations, running auctions, and selling items - all without a Tax ID.  That just doesn't seem right to me.  Seems fraudulent to pass oneself off as a legitimate charity when one is not registered as such with the governing authorities.  It also seems to me that the AG is not doing their job.  Wonder if there's a conflict of interest there?

Oh...  as an aside, neither of the principals involved hold a regular job and they have FIVE (5), personal donkeys as pets.