UPDATE: HOURS AFTER THIS POST WENT ONLINE YESTERDAY MIRIAM KELLY REPAID THE $632 DISCOUNT SHE GOT FROM A LOCAL ANIMAL HOSPITAL BY FALSELY PORTRAYING DESIDERATA RESCUE AS A CHARITY.
IRS Revoked Desiderata Rescue’s Charity Status in 2019
Last month, Miriam Kelly of Desiderata Rescue fraudulently claimed the rescue was a charity in order to get a discount of more than $600 for services provided by a Seattle area animal hospital.
The IRS determines whether or not a nonprofit can be classified as a legitimate 501(c)(3) charity. Once the IRS designates an organization as a charity, it does not have to pay federal income tax. Donors can also make tax deductible donations to it.
Charities must file annual tax returns with the IRS. Some must also file state returns. In addition, they must make their last 3 tax returns available to the public.
As I wrote earlier this year, the IRS designated Desiderata Rescue as a 501(c)(3) charity in 2016.
But the IRS revoked its 501(c)(3) status in 2019 for failing to provide tax returns for 3 years.
I also noted that Miriam Kelly fraudulently promoted Desiderata Rescue as a charity after the IRS revoked its 501(c)(3) status.
Seattle Area Veterinarian Taken for $632
Many dog rescues run on shoestring budgets, so some veterinarians and pet stores discount their bills to help them out.
To get this discount, they often require rescues to provide a copy of their 501(c)(3) designation letter from the IRS.
Recently someone from a local animal hospital sent me an email saying Miriam Kelly provided a letter from the IRS designating Desiderata Rescue as a 501(c)(3) charity in order to get a $632 discount on the services it provided for one of the rescue’s dogs.
Later this person discovered that the letter was invalid because the IRS revoked Desiderata Rescue’s charity status in 2019.
Here’s the email they sent:
“I work at a small animal emergency clinic. We recently had Miriam as a client and after arguing about the bill for one of her fostered puppies, gave her a 20% discount provided she showed us a copy of her 501c3, which was dated 2016. This is a $632 discount that we are now out of.”
Operating Illegally is Nothing New for Desiderata Rescue
Miriam Kelly has illegally operated her rescue for years. In addition to fraudulently claiming Desiderata Rescue was a 501(c)(3) charity, she posted fundraisers in Washington without registering with the Secretary of State’s Charity program or meeting Washington’s disclosure requirements for fundraising appeals.
And last July, after moving her unauthorized rescue to Seminole, OK, she sent sick puppies and kittens to Washington adopters.
She also continues to illegally sell dogs and cats in Washington without registering with state.
To the best of my knowledge, Desiderata Rescue isn’t registered to operate Oklahoma either.
Earlier this year, Adopt-a-Pet kicked Desiderata Rescue off its website after Seattle DogSpot reported the rescue for violating its terms of service,
Desiderata Rescue Doesn’t Exist
Legally, Desiderata Rescue doesn’t exist. Ms. Kelly hasn’t registered it to operate or sell animals anywhere.
Adopting a pet from Miriam Kelly is no different than buying one from someone who sells them on the side of a road. She’s just an individual that sells pets for hundreds of dollars.
And because she never submitted annual reports, no one knows how much money the rescue makes or where that money goes.
I plan to report Miriam Kelly’s fraudulent activities to the IRS. It doesn’t look kindly on organizations that falsely present themselves as charities.
Still, despite a few bad actors, responsible people run the vast majority of dog rescues. They operate within the law and ensure their dogs are healthy before anyone can adopt them.
Ms. Kelly’s antics shouldn’t prevent anyone from adopting a dog from a rescue. Just be sure to do your research to ensure it’s a responsible rescue that follows the law.
We’ve adopted a couple of rescued dogs from her, it didn’t cost hundreds of dollars and they weren’t sick, they were taken from a shitty situation, vetted, and adopted to a better life.
I feel like you’re bullying her.
I don’t know her history but she really is just trying to help animals, and I appreciate her for that.
Bad/Sad stories always travel faster and wider than the good ones, so… you take a couple instances of “bad” press, build them up and then skip over the hundreds of good things she does. That’s not fair. She doesn’t just go fund me for dogs, she offers the vet clinic info where people can pay directly to the vet for care of the animals she’s picking up off the side of the road.
I have a hell of a good dog who gets to love life and protects us and our farm because of her.
My elderly father has a hell of a good dog that has absolutely changed his life for the better because of her.
When we picked our dogs up, she hugged them with tears in her eyes and thanked us for helping her give them a better, happier life.
I’m glad that your adoption worked out. As I’ve said in the past I’m not saying there are problems with every adoption from Desiderata. But no responsible rescue will consistently send sick animals to adopters. And responsible rescues comply with the law. Saving dogs/cats doesn’t make you immune from your legal obligations. Portraying your group as a charity when it isn’t is fraud, which is a serious crime.
I’ve noticed you regularly go after only one rescue. Do you have a personal vendetta against them? It appears, with the amount of stories about them, that you do.
I actually planned to take3 a break from the website until the end of the the year but people keep sending me information about Desiderata. If I was getting information about other deceptive rescues I would write about them too but right now the only one I hear about is DR.
Naw…not if she came to oklahoma to slang animals in Washington….im afraid your wrong…and why didnt she file her info??? Why didnt she keep her 501c3? How much did it cost to adopt from her? And what kind of crappy situations we talking here??? And how do you know that they were really from bad situations??? Scars??
I hope she sues you for defamation.
You can’t sue for defamation because someone told the truth, but I’ll defend what I wrote in court if that’s necessary.
I adopted an amazing dog from Desiderata rescue who was healthy and rescued from a horrific life. Miriam Kelley has nothing but love for animals, so much so that she goes without to make sure they are ok. Shame on you for only showing the bad stories, things happen.
I’m glad you got a healthy dog from Desiderata. Lots of others haven’t been so lucky.
https://corgi.rescueme.org/Oregon
I just find this post on RescueMe.org, and I think this is same organization/ person you mentioned here. This dog is in Oklahoma but only adoptable in Oregon and it will be transported to OR somehow. It is very suspicious. I tried to contact RescureMe. Org but I could not find email address/contact. Can you do something to prevent a scammers to rip off money ?
I have tried to get these sites to kick off sketchy rescue groups but it’s very difficult to get them to take action. I’m looking into whether or not anything can be done so they will kick more of them off.
I just had a very disappointing experience with Mariam. Did everything I was told to do, completed an application with my signature. They contacted me at 8:30 pm to pick up my foster, I asked if it was okay to do it in the morning, to which they agreed and was told Mariam would contact me. Waited anxiously all day, and then at 6:30 pm got an email stating that the dog I was promised was adopted. I’m happy about that, but after all they required of me, I would expect some professionalism in return. I’m still going to foster, but not through them!
Thanks for sharing your story. Glad you’ll keep fostering.