Is it legal for a pet rescue organization to refuse a pet adoption based on…?
the prospective adopting family’s ownership of non-neutered animals? Here is the bit I thought relevant from the IRS on non-profit orgs…
Exempt Purposes – Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)
The exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) are charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals. The term charitable is used in its generally accepted legal sense and includes relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.
Is owning an unfixed animal considered cruelty?
It looks to me as though you’re trying to combine two unrelated items into one in order to come up with a contradiction. I don’t think it works that way.
On the one hand, there is the IRS code which you quoted. If the pet rescue organization you went to does routinely and competently provide services which help prevent animal cruelty, then it certainly seems to me that it meets one of the exempt purposes set forth in the section you quoted.
On the other hand, there is the separate matter of the organization deciding not to allow an adoption if the prospective adoptee owns non-neutered animals. That would only be a problem if there were some legal reason the organization was not allowed to do that. But I don’t believe that there is. As far as I know, the organization as the current legal custodian of the animal is under no legal compulsion forcing them to proceed with an adoption. They can decide not to allow someone to adopt for whatever reasons seem reasonable to them. (As could you if someone wanted to adopt any of the animals you currently have custody of).
Organic winemaking – the SOB
,Wine making and appreciation has been described as an artform. Today, “green” drops are regularly available in most bottle shops and cellars. More and more vineyards are adapting sustainable practices in their wine making, harking back to the traditional wine making principles.
Today, about 94 current Australian wine producers (4.1 per cent of the industry) have so far gone back to wine’s original green roots. To qualify as organic producers, winemakers must make their wines from organically grown grapes while adopting organic principles in the production process.
Some have been seriously organic since the early 1970s, while the majority only started going green in the 1990s.
So what’s the SOB
Sustainable wine – sustainable wine generally means its production minimises the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides. Non-organic chemicals may be used minimally in certain conditions. Sustainable wine can also relate to practices that keep the environment in mind.
Organic wine - organic wine is certified by one of the qualified certifying in Australia, typically the Australian Certified Organic (a division of the Biological Farmers Association) or the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA). To qualify for organic certification, a vineyard verfies that it does not use certain chemicals, including pesticides and herbicids and that vines are handled minimally.
Bio-dynamic wine – adapts organic principles with a focus on the ecosystem and nature. Stemming from the theories of Rudolf Steiner, biodynamic principles are designed to be in tune with the Earth’s natural rhythms with a holistic approach to the preparation and nurturing of the vineyards’ soils. Demeter is the oldest seal in Australia, and is administered by the Bio-Dynamic Research Institute to certify biodynamic wines.
Find great organic wines on the Green Pages.
About the Author
Response to the so-called “National Organization for Marriage” Part 2
