Paws for Life K9 Rescue

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
830757621
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
Phone
3107380842
Rating
63
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,723,516
Expenses
$3,396,317
Assets
$2,344,901
Liabilities
$97,437

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ALEXANDRA TONNER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • ALEXANDRA TONNER (PRESIDENT): $153,791 total reported compensation
  • ZOE RAMAGNANO (HIGHEST COMPENSATED EMPLOYEE): $153,061 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Pflk9 pulls dogs from city and county shelters and places them in our paws for life (pfl) California state prison program with our incarcerated trainers who are able to dedicate all of their time to their rehabilitation. After several months of living and working with our inmate trainers, our dogs earn their akc canine good citizen certification and are ready for adoption and family life. Some pfl graduates complete further training to become service animals for military veterans suffering from ptsd. The pfl program enriches the lives of the inmates and dogs alike. By lowering euthanasia rates and preparing dogs for service jobs, pfl is proving that everyone deserves a second chance.

What it reported doing in 2024

The pfl service dog program is a collaboration between paws for life k9 rescue and the California department of corrections and rehabilitation (cdcr) that rehabilitates rescue dogs into highly trained service dogs for military veterans with ptsd. Incarcerated participants in cdcr facilities spend hundreds of hours training the dogs to perform a variety of tasks that alleviate may of the daily challenges of ptsd. In the process they find healing, accountability, a sense of purpose, and for many, a chance to experience unconditional love and empathy for the first time. Participants also build job skills that can lead to secure employment upon release, lowering reentry risk significantly. This program is a 40-week training process that prepares the dog to handle the rigors of performing in various environments and ptsd disability-specific tasks. At the end of the core six months of the program, our trainers place dogs with clients (veterans) during a seven-day education and training boot camp. The boot camp teaches veterans how to utilize his/her new service dog appropriately. The training takes place in various public settings/situations, as well as, within the correctional facility with the program participants who trained the service dogs. Pfl's staff and trainers support the veteran adopters at every step of the program, and beyond. The plf ptsd service dog program runs two 52-week cycles annually, serving 25 incarcerated program participants, 7 dogs, and 7 military veterans each cycle. Veterans and their dogs continue to work together, and additional training is offered to ensure the best possible fit for humans and canines.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 93% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 67
  • Accountability: 10
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.5%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 8.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.69; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31.6% per year; rating input score 100; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 18.9% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.9% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.5% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 9 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $154K · 10 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 33 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.