Great Lakes Assistance Dogs Premierk9Grand ledge dog training Falsify health records and sell you untrained dogs grand ledge Michigan

My daughter and I each bought a golden doodle from G.L.A.D. and we think they are the kindest, most loving dogs we have ever owned. My daughter's dog has allergies- that's the extent of his health issues! My dog is perfect. They are obedient, well behaved and wonderful, and those behaviors were gained from simple home training by my daughter and I who are not dog training experts by any stretch of the imagination. I'd happily buy another dog from G.L.A.D.  

I decide to coment again.  Great Lakes Assistance Dogs (GLAD) in their June 2014 (?) newsletter talks about their attorney and CPA working to get them a federal 501c3 non-profit status.  Based upon many sources, it appears GLAD was never a legal 501c3 under anyone and donations were never tax deductable and are still not tax deductable.  Also they apparently were in violation of Michigan donation laws until just recently.  All of this went on for years.  Hopefully they have new attorney and CPA or GLAD was not up front with them in the past (logically the only other alternative is that if these are their previous attorney and CPA the lawyer and CPA did not know the law which certainly is not the case).  I agree with helping hands.... and GLAD appears to have scammed their lawyer and CPA too. 

Great Lakes Assistance Dogs on their Facebook Page has celebrated them being approved by the Michigan Attorney General Office to accept donations.  This has received many likes.  This is strange.  It means that Great Lakes Assistance Dogs was in violation Michigan laws for years and may be for up to 8 years.  This should have generated many dislikes, not likes.  But the good news is that the filing they have done for 2013 and will have to do in the future means one has a way to check if the people they say receive money from them, like trainers, are claiming the income on their taxes.  They are probably applying for 501c3 status but given many years of apparently violation 501c3 status this may be harder to get and should make anyone very carefull about dealing with them in any capacity. 

I see where on Great Lakes Assistance Dog Facebook Page they celebrate the fact they have recently been approved by Michigan to collect donations (but not tax deductable).  The article has many likes on Facebook.  Since Great Lakes Assistance Dogs apparently was illegally accepting "non-profit" donations for years, and may be for up to eight years, it seems odd that this got "likes" rather than dis-likes.  Along with the apparent fact that they have never been a federal 501c3 non-profit they seem to may have been less than honest on several fronts.  But the reporting they now have to do in Michigan does provides an avenue to see if people who they say received money from them, like the trainers, claim the income on their taxes for 2013 and in the future.  Great Lakes Assistance Dogs are probably trying to become a 501c3 non-profit but one would think their past activity will delay or cause them to not be approved.  Again all this about their past may be a cause for concern for anyone thinking about working with the company or donating. 

I am a relative of the owner of G.L.A.D.  I am here to informed consumers that G.L.A.D. is a great organization!  The negative comments in this report are not true about G.L.A.D.  I've known the owner since birth.  I watched her grow up and I've witnessed her love for animals and the great care and concern she has for them.  She has worked hard to build a great organization and is not deserving of the lies told here.  For whatever reason this consumer is unhappy, it isn't due to the circumstances they say it is.  

The owner of G.L.A.D. would not falsify a pet's health record, nor sell a pet to someone if it were ill.  Her love for animals would move her to treat that animal and see to it personally that it gets the medical attention it needs.  If she unknowingly sold an animal that turned out to be ill, she would make the situation right and would personally take the animal back and have it properly treated.

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing this report was filed by a consumer I am aware of.  If you are interested in reading the other side of the story, please go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com/541/368/897/bring-cooper-home-to-glad/.  Even if this report was not filed by this consumer, it's still a great example of dedicated GLAD is to matching GREAT dogs with people who need them!  The statements made in this report are FALSE!!!

Great Lakes Assistance Dogs has removed their claim of a 501c3 non-profit status from their web site.  Reference my earlier posting.  Current donations are not tax deductable and past donations may have never been tax deductable.  Although the IRS will probably not go after people who donated in good faith, as long as it was not a pattern of abuse.  I would think you would want to avoid an orgainzation that claimed 501c3 non-profit status but no longer makes the claim. 

I don't know any specific about this company, but the best advice is to doocument everything in writing: letter, email pr text no matter who you work with and insist the same from them.  The service/assistance dog scams are numerous and TV stores are bringing more and more to light.  The parents are usually desperate for help and funds are limited because of the cost associated with an ill child.  

Children stores are great fund raisers and even more so if you add a service dog and especially a sick service dog.  Many companies will do right with one or two cases who stories make great fund raising to get good publicity but not so good with most of the others.  Often only 10-20 percent of the money raised goes to costs associated with the dog, the rest is overhead which makes it a scam.  this is true even if the child is getting maximum benefit as the parents have become unknowingly participants in the scam.

People don't complain because they are still getting benefit with minimal direct cost to them (like that possibly occurring in the Betty F case talked about here), or they are embarrased (the championship of almost any dog provides benefit in the beginning which is great news to share), or the lack documentation.  Request all records the company says they have about the dog and process up front and during the course of the process. 

For donors it is very hard to tell who is really doing a good job of helping people and not taking a large overhead cut.  Many people can be taken in by a good scam salesman, see Bernie Madoff.  The only way to know is to ask for the IRS 501c3 filings or an independent auditor report which is time consuming.

Some charity guides are helpful but only if the company is fully registered and the guide is independent from the industry involved.  While it is not enough to be an accredited/approved non-profit with organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, it is probably a warning if they are not accreditted/approved.  As of today, Great Lakes Assistance Dogs is not listed as an accredited charity in the BBB on-line data base and Great Lakes Assistance Dogs is not listed as a 501c3 in Michigan in the on-line IRS data base.  Consumers and donors need to be very careful.

If Betty F is Betty Facey... let me get this straight.  You contracted for a healthy dog for maximum benefit for your child and knowningly accepted an ill dog with bad knees from Great Lakes Assistance Dogs.  You then let donors of this scam pay for most of your costs for several knee operations for Venture and have service dog down time. Does this make you part of the scam?  Do you really think you know the real amount of money coming into Great Lakes Assistance Dogs for Venture. all of which is suppose to benefit your child?  

As a consumer of GLAD, I am surprised by this complaint.  We have a black lab from GLAD and he is wonderful.  We trained with the agency and could not ask for a better dog.  He is a service dog for our 5 year old son and we have had the dog for over a year.  Our family is very satisified with the services received.  It takes a lot of work on an owner's part to have a great dog.  You can't expect to pick up a service dog from any agency and have a perfect pet unless you are willing to work hard and train with the animal.

We know of a very similar experience with Great Lakes Asistance Dogs this year and the owners have just filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General.   You also filing a complaint or information (either option is avialable through the Michigan Attorney General on-line complaint form) would help speed up and resolve our joint issues.