My Lunch With Dr. Couto

[Guest greytfulhounds]

There is a thread in the merchandise section for the OSU fundraiser pendant. $50.00 from each pendant is being donated to OSU. I will post in the thread to bump it closer to the the top!

[Guest kydie]

to Packmon. I am so sorry

[EllenEveBaz]

Done and bumped.

[greyhndz]

I just added my membership, too. I'm legal!

 

Jane, I have 2 questions:

 

Is the program a 501©3?

 

Many people have a matching contribution program at their place of employment. For those who do, can the program be listed as a recipient?

[sweetdogs]

Even if your employer won't match, The Greyhound Project will. And they are a 501©3.

[Tallgreydogmom]

Even if your employer won't match, The Greyhound Project will. And they are a 501©3.

 

Are you saying the Greyhound Project will match our $99 membership fee we pay? That would be wonderful but I'm sure I am miss-understanding this.

 

I just posted a topic to see if anyone is interested in making the conference day into a week-end. I would think the Greyhound Program would be covered under some type of non-profit just because it is connected with Ohio State. Or it isn't connected with the college????

 

For all the fund-raising that we do for the Greyhound Program, I wonder if we need something that is a 501c3, not connected with the college but in cooperation with the college.

Edited June 18, 2010 by Tallgreydogmom

[sweetdogs]

Even if your employer won't match, The Greyhound Project will. And they are a 501©3.

 

Are you saying the Greyhound Project will match our $99 membership fee we pay? That would be wonderful but I'm sure I am miss-understanding this.

No, TGP will match your donation made through their (TGP's) website. I don't think the membership fee counts as a donation anyway.

[joejoesmom]

Even if your employer won't match, The Greyhound Project will. And they are a 501©3.

 

Are you saying the Greyhound Project will match our $99 membership fee we pay? That would be wonderful but I'm sure I am miss-understanding this.

 

I just posted a topic to see if anyone is interested in making the conference day into a week-end. I would think the Greyhound Program would be covered under some type of non-profit just because it is connected with Ohio State. Or it isn't connected with the college????

 

For all the fund-raising that we do for the Greyhound Program, I wonder if we need something that is a 501c3, not connected with the college but in cooperation with the college.

 

I did send an email to Dr. Couto a few days ago regarding the two questions (Are they a 501c3 and can you get matching donations through your employer). I told him it was not urgent. I wanted him to focus on the sick dogs first. If I haven't heard back by the next time I run into him, I will ask.

 

If you are going to donate (versus sign up for the website), I suggest you do it through the greyhound project and get matching funds until I find out more. If you are going to sign up for the website, my guess is there are probably no matching funds but I really don't know.

 

I was hoping to run into him when Joe gave blood this past Monday but didn't see him. I will post when I hear anything.

 

Jane

[Batmom]

If you sign up for the website it likely doesn't qualify as a charitable donation because you're getting something of value in return.

[Guest bethac]

Bumping to get more awareness. I joined last week and membership was prorated, so that change is already in place! I can't say enough about how wonderful all the staff members are at OSU. Love them!

[Guest boondog]

There is a thread in the merchandise section for the OSU fundraiser pendant. $50.00 from each pendant is being donated to OSU. I will post in the thread to bump it closer to the the top!

 

 

This is my birthday present.

[Guest fourgreysmom]

[Guest fourgreysmom]

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[Guest fourgreysmom]

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[joejoesmom]

Even if your employer won't match, The Greyhound Project will. And they are a 501©3.

 

Are you saying the Greyhound Project will match our $99 membership fee we pay? That would be wonderful but I'm sure I am miss-understanding this.

 

I just posted a topic to see if anyone is interested in making the conference day into a week-end. I would think the Greyhound Program would be covered under some type of non-profit just because it is connected with Ohio State. Or it isn't connected with the college????

 

For all the fund-raising that we do for the Greyhound Program, I wonder if we need something that is a 501c3, not connected with the college but in cooperation with the college.

 

I did send an email to Dr. Couto a few days ago regarding the two questions (Are they a 501c3 and can you get matching donations through your employer). I told him it was not urgent. I wanted him to focus on the sick dogs first. If I haven't heard back by the next time I run into him, I will ask.

 

If you are going to donate (versus sign up for the website), I suggest you do it through the greyhound project and get matching funds until I find out more. If you are going to sign up for the website, my guess is there are probably no matching funds but I really don't know.

 

I was hoping to run into him when Joe gave blood this past Monday but didn't see him. I will post when I hear anything.

 

Jane

 

Here is the latest from Dr. Couto:

 

Believe it or not, nobody has yet been able to tell me about the 501c3 status!

 

I also wanted to give you an update on the OSU website. We introduced several of your suggestions:

 

• the sign on page now has the handouts for owners

• we prorated subscriptions

• you can now access the Memorial page without being a subscribing member

• we added language to explain this more clearly

[mychip1]

Thanks for bumping...hadn't seen this yet...will be sure to donate today!!

[tbhounds]

Glad this got bumped--I'm sure there are many folks that missed this thread. The program is really struggling--they need donations for the program to survive. Just read the lastest greyhound wellness newsletter- it sounds pretty grim. I know the economy has pinched all of our pockets but, please consider donating what you can. Thanks Jane for the update.

[HopeForHounds]

Thanks for the update Jane. I have a contact at OSU that should be able to help with the 501c3 status. I'll go look.

[inugrey]

I came here searching for answers and figure I might as well bump with my thoughts on this too.

 

The Greyhound Wellness Program whether funded by the university is still in the vet school which is very much a university entity so is a non profit educational institution in the eyes of the IRS. That said, as Batmom said earlier if you are getting a benefit for membership in the form of gifts such as a t-shirt or services not all of it is tax deductible so you need to do research before claiming the entire amount.

 

Can anyone talk about the chemo program? A friend just had to pay a $150 vet consult fee and was then told she would not receive any chemo for her dog from OSU. Have they really stopped this program completely?

[joejoesmom]

I came here searching for answers and figure I might as well bump with my thoughts on this too.

 

The Greyhound Wellness Program whether funded by the university is still in the vet school which is very much a university entity so is a non profit educational institution in the eyes of the IRS. That said, as Batmom said earlier if you are getting a benefit for membership in the form of gifts such as a t-shirt or services not all of it is tax deductible so you need to do research before claiming the entire amount.

 

Can anyone talk about the chemo program? A friend just had to pay a $150 vet consult fee and was then told she would not receive any chemo for her dog from OSU. Have they really stopped this program completely?

 

This seems strange to me. Did your friend go to OSU in person? If so, they charge a minimum of about $75 for a face to face consult. Assuming your friend has a retired racing greyhound, certain chemo drugs are free. Administering them is not. If your friend wanted a drug that is not part of the funded research (e.g. carboplatin instead of doxorubicin) it would not be provided for free. Other research study drugs, such as Suramin, can only be administered in Ohio (perhaps only at OSU).

 

If none of the above applies, have your friend send me an email with the particulars:

Who did she communicate with and was it phone or email?

What chemo drug was she requesting?

Who told her that she had to pay?

How did she pay?

Did she communicate with Dr. Couto at all?

 

My email is finewhipador-drool@yahoo.com

 

I will talk with Dr. Couto about it. While the GHWP is struggling, the last I heard was that he was trying to keep phone and email consults available at no charge. He does want to get all consults coming in through the website because it will help them do automated metrics on the program. Unfortunately, the website still requires membership to send in the consult request form. Perhaps she was talking about paying a membership fee? If so, it is now prorated so it shouldn't have cost that much.

 

I did have a meeting scheduled with Dr. Couto for yesterday. We were going to discuss the current state of the GHWP and brainstorm on fundraising ideas. Since Joe was diagnosed with osteo and had amputation Wednesday, I just wasn't up to having this meeting.

 

FYI, here is an excerpt from the latest GHWP newsletter:

 

Currently, between Dr. Couto (full-time oncologist), Drs. Marín and Zaldivar, both full-time

grad students, we do 20-30 consults on Greyhound health issues a day, by phone and e-mail

(about 8 hours a day-literally a full-time job); we also see Greyhounds every week, even when Dr. Couto is not on clinic duty. We also continue to do clinical research on the breed.

Unfortunately, due to a variety of administrative and financial reasons, we cannot continue with the current system. As of now, the only 2 choices we have are to grow the program through a mechanisms that allows us to support it in a stable way, or to eliminate it altogether.

 

Jane

Edited August 1, 2010 by joejoesmom

[tbhounds]

Thanks Jane-- didn't seem right to me. Being an OSU client I am familar with OSU office call charges--$150 is way above and beyond.

[inugrey]

I'm sorry I didn't explain the fee well. The $150 is what the vet pays, so I bet it's the membership fee. I'll clarify that she is still getting the one chemo drug provided by OSU. That's why I came to this thread to ask because I think both of us were confused.

[joejoesmom]

I can't believe the vet signed up for the newsletter and website ($149 for a year subscription for a vet) and then passed the fee on to their client. Just like regular people, the vet can contact OSU for a free consult. Maybe they didn't realize that and thought they had to sign up. But they shouldn't charge this one client for the entire year's subsription.

[inugrey]

He didn't pass it on to her, I just didn't explain it well when I asked the question. The vet said he had to pay that to get consults and I totally didn't explain it like that as I reread my post.

 

I'm sure she's following up on the chemo.

[DaisyDoodle]

When I needed a consult, it was presented to me as if there was no choice but to purchase a membership in order to get a consult. Perhaps that's the same thing that happened to the vet.