Dear Melissa,
The public has been following the Devoted Barn saga unfold, it’s juicier than a daytime drama and at each turn, it has certainly kept everyone on the edge of their seat. We continually wonder how are you ever going to pull out of this hole you have dug. You have taken on hundreds of animals without the ability to adequately care for or rehabilitate them. Your only means to support this “dream” is through the generosity of individuals and organizations who have repeatedly come to your aid. You have raised a staggering amount of money to date, but this endless supply of donations never seems to be enough to remedy the situation you are in because you mismanage every dollar.
Just this last week you made yet another emotional plea for $25,000 to pay your property taxes, legal bills, and winter prep for the barn. As a side note, you included the need to pay off the land contract for the property you are currently living at and the kennel in Grand Blanc you are hoping to purchase. You provided no dollar amount for these items. You were only able to raise a meager $2500 and that falls dramatically short of the actual number needed.
Can you also address while you are in such debt, shorthanded with volunteers and need this ungodly amount of money you are STILL bringing in MORE AND MORE ANIMALS?!?! Don't say because they need you because we see first hand your rehabilitation skills, vetting and care of animals that no longer pull in the dollars for you.
Then we have the horse shows...who is footing those bills??? Don't say alimony or your baby daddy cuz we know neither are paying for that in full (we know you LIED about getting alimony). Pretty confident donation dollars are paying the majority of that sport which includes horse care (food, shoes, training), entry fees, travel costs and even competitive clothing. Just write it off to the rescue, who will ever know shhhhhh.
Doing the math here is what it adds up to:
Land contract payoff is estimated to be between $500,000.00 to $600,000.00
Commercial property in Grand Blanc (Zillow) $376,400.00
Property taxes the farm (2021 amount) $12,165.00
Property taxes for the dog kennel (2019 amount) $7,265.00
Let’s not forget
Maintenance
Insurance
Veterinarian
Food
Legal Fees
You will need at least a million dollars to solve your problem. Who is going to just hand over this type of money to a jobless professional beggar?? You have no (or have you ever had) concrete business plan, no real accounting and your last 990 was 2019!!! By all accounts your 2020 (990) needs to be audited because you got so much money in donations and had $1.2 million in expenditures (for the property). Hopefully any accountant who wants to risk their license and future livelihood by signing an audited financial document thinks long and hard before they do. Your books are not medium rare, they are cooked to well done.
Sorry Melissa, but the only thing the public has to give you is a piece of their mind.
Wake the F’ up! The rest of the world is knee-deep in a recession. While everyone else is buckling down to weather that storm you’ve got your hand out expecting others to continue to “save you” from the mess that you created. If you just put as much effort into solving your problems as you do conning people out of their hard earned money you would be so much farther ahead. This is no one else’s fault. Take responsibility for the mess you created, get out your shovel and start digging yourself out of this hole instead of expecting everyone else to do it for you.
Speaking of shovels how is that trash situation going out there??? Don't lie no one is playing jokes calling to get the dumpsters you had there removed. More like they got repossessed because you don't pay your bills.
Inquiring minds want to know as you are up to your eyeballs in debt and maintenance at the farm if your life partner and his Mom who live on the property pay rent and if so who do they pay rent to?? The IRS would be curious so we need to know what to tell them.
Someone is living in a 5 alarm dumpster fire, but this isn't anything new...just send money folks because someone likes to burn through your dollars.
Comments