American Border Collie Association

Will not reply to emails won't answer phone wants me to go to print shop to.print off my own registration forms raised membership and puppy registration what do I get for my fees paid takes over a month to register puppies.

The American Border Collie Association is no longer “democratically ran” since the term was removed from their website effective March 2016. Also, around March 2016-The American Border Collie Association discovered the Rip Off Reports associated with their ABCA “High Volume List” AKA their blacklist, but the ABCA still refuses to “set the facts straight” even though it is free for anyone to comment, and unlike the Border Collie Boards-it cannot be deleted or moderated by Attorney, past president, and current director Eileen Stein of the ABCA. (However, the ABCA appears to have taken the time to pay Rip Off Report so that no additional reviews could be published on the Rip Off Report website?)

Furthermore, it is usually a red flag when a non-profit organization slanders persons that question their pellucidity. Readers might just determine their own judgement about the American Border Collie Association for themselves based on “objective facts” submitted to the IRS from the American Border Collie Association.

It was implied on the Border Collie boards that Deborah Bailey should not have been dragged into the conflict about the highly controversial “high volume list” AKA the ABCA blacklist because she is a mere “paid employee”. Debbie Bailey also states that she is a mere “paid employee” to avoid answering tough questions, and so forth, and directs difficult calls to the President Mike Neary, whom conveniently refuses to answer hard-hitting questions pertaining to the ABCA blacklist and so forth. However, Deborah Bailey is not a mere paid employee of the ABCA-she is the Secretary/Treasurer of the American Border Collie Association, and as well as a director or trustee as well.

Many times non-profit organizations are so audacious they are clearly not what they claim to be if looked at with a proficient eye. Most of the “active” members of the ABCA are probably not familiar with Form 990.

Form 990 is a form that a non-profit organization may have to submit to the IRS EACH YEAR and make available for public inspection. To The American Border Collie Association’s consternation- ALL of their financial information, including how much Deborah Bailey is paid and such is also open to public inspection. The ABCA intended the “High Volume List” to be “An Innovation Approach to Puppy Mills and to shed light on numbers, so the American Border Collie has no leg to stand on as to why the ABCA hasn’t released their own numbers in a similar method after all the ABCA claims to make Form 990 available upon request...

Therefore, let’s let Form 990 submitted to the IRSA from the ABCA do the talking. Don’t have copies in front of you to compare? Request them from the “paid employee” of the ABCA-they should be in PDF Format and be capable to simply email it to you or capable to mail it to you although that would be costly to the ABCA considering how many pages are involved.

Readers just might find that they will question the competence and integrity of the American Border Collie Association after reading the following “facts” or should we say potential “misrepresentation or outright lies” that was submitted and signed by Deborah Bailey to the IRS on the American Border Collie Association’s behalf via Form 990. (Keep in mind-if Form 990 is obtained from the ABCA’s “paid employee” it can be altered.)

Many non-profit organizations will hide behind their cover of a 501 c 3 Federal IRS tax exempt status. The IRS generously grants the 501 c 3 designation to most animal welfare type organizations. On the 2014 Form 990 form the American Border Collie Association claimed to the IRS “To REGISTER, MAINTAIN, AND VERIFY THE PEDIGREES OF BORDER COLLIES, PROMOTE AND FOSTER THE BREEDING, TRAINING, AND DISTIBUTION OF RELIABLE WORKING BORDER COLLIES, ORGANIZE AND PROMOTE TRIALS AND EXHIBITION, PROMOTE, INFORM, AND ACQUAINT THE PUBLIC WITH WORKING BORDER COLLIES, PROMOTE OWNERSHIP AND USE OF BORDER COLLIES, AND TO ASSIST AND PROVIDE FOR THE RAISING, TRAINING, AND EXHIBTION OF WORKING BORDER COLLIES”. How exactly does publishing a blacklist in 2016 of persons that the ABCA freely and voluntarily accepted registration fees from in 2014 perform the above?

Just because the American Border Collie Association has a non-profit status with the IRS does not mean they are trustworthy. The questions asked by the IRS to obtain non-profit status is not necessarily an deterrent or indicator to entities that plan to abuse their non-profit status to fraudulently claim one’s hard earned money. As a matter of fact, some non-profit organizations seek non-profit status since donations are tax deductible to the contributor. One can easily look at the IRS website and determine that both the ABCA and the ABCA’s Health and Education Foundation are both non-profit organizations…Also non-profit organizations are sometimes figuratively banking on their non-profit status to take one’s hard earned cash.

Countless potential “errors” (Or should we just go ahead and call them outright lies?) Can be found on Form 990 that was submitted by the American Border Collie Association-particularly since Deborah Bailey took over –please especially view years 2012-****, and keep in mind it takes time to generate Form 990, so the 201* 990 Form might not be “available” at present …How many of you actually see the ABCA publish Form 990 on their website as they claimed in the past to the IRS? None of you members of the American Border Collie Association right? At least it hasn’t been visible between January 2016 and the time this was posted anyways-that’s very “misleading” considering that is what the ABCA stated on prior 990 forms.

The ABCA seems to enjoy publishing and keeping negative information on their website indefinitely (The ABCA has even going so far as to sue and obtain a website only to display their own negative information on it. ), and yet the ABCA will not publish their own information and numbers as they claim to the IRS?

One would imagine going forward the ABCA will publicly post Form 990 on their website since numbers should be made visible for all to see unless the ABCA themselves have something to hide-sound familiar? How many members have voted on the Secretary-Treasurer of the ABCA? None right? Oh, and the American Border Collie Association claims to have how many paid employees exactly according to the Board Collie Boards and such? One-Debbie Bailey, right? Wrong-take a good look at Form 990-you will notice the American Border Collie Association doesn’t have a paid employee listed according to Form 990 which was signed by Deborah Bailey herself.

That’s right- that means Deborah Bailey is in fact the Secretary/Treasurer of the American Border Collie Association. Look further, and you will see she also signed these forms in 2013 and 2014…Most reputable non-profit organizations have the President AND Vice President sign Form 990 for internal control reasons and because it is open to public inspection! Granted the American Border Collie Association appears to be very small as far as non-profits are concerned, but shouldn’t internal controls still be in place? Who is gullible again? Perhaps it is the oligarchy that controls the American Border Collie Association?

Another interesting concept is if Deborah Bailey is in fact (according to Form 990 submitted and signed by her) an officer (Secretary/Treasurer) AND a director or trustee that The American Border Collie Association is thus violating their own rules, as no two “directors” can be in the same state. How odd considering Debbie Bailey and Peg Anderson are both located in GA and neither are “paid employees” according to Form 990. The ABCA currently states on its website “Only one director per state or province may hold office at any given time, and at least one director must be Canadian. The terms are for three years and a director may not serve for more than two consecutive three-year terms.” Why wasn’t Deborah Bailey’s position voted on by the general membership since she is not just a “paid employee”?

Another interesting concept is how does the same key persons continually run for officers of the American Border Collie Association when they have already served terms as President, Vice President, and so forth? Let’s use Eileen Stein for an example: she appears to have held office several times within the ABCA, she is also the moderator of the Border Collie Boards, and she appears to be associated with the unknown and questionable ABCA Health and Education Foundation Inc. How is this not an example of an oligarchy or at the very least potential internal control issues? Does membership also not have a say as to which entities the ABCA donates too?

Perhaps the above could be a small example of why the American Border Collie Association no longer claims to be democratically ran as of March 2016 until the time this was posted? Since the American Border Collie Association has no issues posting “objective facts” how about the American Border Collie Association publish a listing of who the officers were and when they held office since the organization was founded? Most non-profit organizations proudly display this type of information in their offices and so forth on plaques. However, the American Border Collie Association appears to operate out of the secretary-treasurer’s house, and it does not appear to have normal business hours nor a physical address- yet another red flag. (Especially when the Secretary-Treasurer earns over $70K per year according to Form 990.)

Another interesting fact is the American Border Collie Association says it was incorporated in Delaware, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what that means in terms of the ABCA being able to do what they want to do and get away with it. Who owns the address of where the American Border Collie Association’s “headquarters” is located in Delaware?

The American Border Collie Association also appears to have purposefully passed their blacklist (AKA High Volume Breeders List) against breeders in a state known for their animal right activists-California. Why wasn’t something that could potentially give rise to lawsuits voted on by the general membership who would most likely disagree on such a slanderous listing?

Speaking of voting-it is odd that the American Border Collie Association has boldly claimed to have over 9,000 members for years now on their website, and yet how many ballots were mailed out in 2015? Per the American Border Collie Association newsletter issued in 2015 “2054 ballots were mailed to eligible members in 2015. Only 360 ballots of the ballots mailed out where returned to the CPA’s office that were “eligible to vote”, and eleven was turned in at the membership meeting.” Furthermore, The American Border Collie Association newsletter stated that the ballots returned (371) represented more than 10% of the members eligible to vote in 2015.

Since the American Border Collie Association is all about numbers and ethics, why doesn’t the American Border Collie Association update their website to represent how many “active” members the ABCA truly has, which is way less than 9,000 members if the total of 371 ballots received represented more than 10% of members eligible to vote in 2015. Otherwise, something very suspicious is going on within the American Border Collie Association as to why 9,000 ballots were not mailed out if that’s how many “active” members the ABCA truly has… While the American Border Collie Association is at it, their 990 Forms needs to be published on their website, along with any newsletters published. It is after all the 21st Century, and it shouldn’t be too hard since the ABCA only tends to generate a newsletter to publish negative information, and the Form 990’s should have been scanned to a PDF format anyways.

Has any “active members” actually received a newsletter since the notice of the blacklist and such was mailed out late in 2015? That answer would be a no unless the ABCA is discriminating against it’s own members. The American Border Collie Association claims to be all about “ethics and transparency”- so why has the ABCA been more focused on blacklisting their own members than they have been with properly handing their own non-profit organizations? What is the ABCA Health and Education Foundation Inc and who does it consist of? Why wasn’t the money “donated” to the ABCA Health and Education Foundation Inc voted on by ABCA membership?

The officers, directors, or trustees listed below continue to refuse to answer any tough questions. Silence is often considered equivalent to complicity in a crime, and reprisal appears to be a trait favored by the American Border Collie Association-particularly among the current officers, directors, or trustees. The below persons can be held personally liable for their slander associated with the American Border Collie Association’s blacklist and the below is “merely a list” :

President Dr. Mike Neary, of Brookston, IN

Vice President Warren Mick of Altamont, NY

Secretary/Treasurer Deborah Bailey of Catahoula, GA

Peg Anderson of Chickamauga, GA

Allison Jarrard of Kaycee, WY

Sonia Craig of Champion, NE

Emil Luedecke of Zephyr, TX

Dennis Gellings of Dawson Creek, BC

Patrick Shannahan, Red Top Kennels, Caldwell, ID

Mike Hanley of Lexington, KY

Jamie Spring, Silver Spring Border Collies, Union Center, SD

Allen Hickenbottom, Dunnellon, FL.

Attorney and BC Boards Moderator Eileen Stein of Shady Side, MD

To any persons questioning the validity of the author(s) claim, please request Form 990 from the American Border Collie Association yourself, and if the “paid employee” refuses to provide you with a copy of Form 990-report the ABCA to the IRS via Form 13909. It should be interesting to see if Deborah Bailey freely and voluntarily disclosures that information upon request as easily as she releases gossip. (Why was there a need for the ABCA Blacklist? One will probably never know since Debbie Bailey freely and voluntarily released information about other members, including how many puppies were produced in any given year.)

Hopefully the American Border Collie Association can focus on correcting their own questionable and unethical practices instead of shaming and discriminating against their own members. If accepting monies from members and freely and voluntarily registering puppies from said members only to turn around two years later and state that they are not good working dog breeders and that the ABCA doesn’t endorse them and treat said members awful-how is that not discrimination?

Speaking of additional questionable practices why isn’t Mark Billadeau’s name also on the ABCA’s blacklist when he clearly stated on the Border Collie Boards that his name should appear on the list? Does it have something to do with him sitting on the questionable ABCA Health and Education Foundation Inc? (His name hasn’t been on the 2014 blacklist that was published very early in 2016 and it still isn’t on the blacklist since the Rip Off Report was published.) Also why isn’t Patrick Shannahan’s name on the blacklist since he used to freely advertise “several” litters per year? Could it be because he is a current officer of the ABCA? The lack of names on the ABCA blacklist is just as surprising as the information contained on Form 990 that was submitted to the IRS by the ABCA. It is now August 2016-when can we expect the newest blacklist? The other questions asked previously via Rip Off Report remain unanswered.

Again if the ABCA declines you the right to inspect Form 990 of your requested year(s) (Just like they have refused to answer questions pertaining to their blacklist and so forth.) please consider completing IRS Form 13909, as The American Border Collie Association is currently a non-profit organization and is required by law to make Form 990 available to public inspection.

Trained eyes will likely notice additional abnormal information on Form 990 than what is listed here if one pays careful attention to the details.

In conclusion, the American Border Collie Association, Inc. is a currently a non-profit, as is the ABCA Health and Education Foundation, Inc. so the American Border Collie Association’s financial information can be located with very little effort if one knows where to look. The American Border Collie Association should NOT be affected by the posting of already public information.

If the American Border Collie Association did not want the ABCA’s information to be open to public viewing, then perhaps the American Border Collie Association does not need to be classified as a “charity”. The American Border Collie Association did NOT allow the general membership the opportunity to vote on the infamous “high volume breeders list” or on the removal of the term “democratically ran” from their website.

The American Border Collie Association continues to “publically shame” everyone on their blacklist, when the ABCA freely and voluntarily accepted registration fees from the “unendorsed” members, all while conducting suspicious business practices… So is the American Border Collie Association a reputable “charity” whose numbers add up? You decide for yourself.

*The entire contents of this review of the American Border Collie Association is posted as an “opinion” in a non-hateful manner and it is protected by the 1st Amendment. No tax advice is implied or given-contact the IRS directly for additional information or clarification. Intrinsically, the author wishes to remain 100% anonymous to avoid any retaliation that would likely result due to the American Border Collie Association’s vindictive nature. *