Munchie's Place for Homeless Pets

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Munchie's Place for Homeless Pets We are a 501c3 foster based small animal rescue in Kent, Washington. Please check out our Petfinder Adoption Policy for more information.

Greetings community, I am needing some advice for those who've gone through a similar issue when it comes to tax exempt ...
14/11/2024

Greetings community, I am needing some advice for those who've gone through a similar issue when it comes to tax exempt status for an animal rescue, or just a 501(c)3 status business.

We were tax exempt till last year when we failed to file for 3 consecutive years. Thanks to the pandemic, I forgot all about filing. No biggie. I reapplied, filed the paperwork 1023, paid the $600 dollar fee and then got a notice Jan 2024 that we've been reinstated. Yay!

Reinstatement takes 3-9 months. So I waited to see our status change from being on the revocation list to being in the tax exempt search engine. I waited. And waited. And nothing. I went to the search engine where I found Munchies Place. It didn't list a reinstated date. Only when our revocation status went into effect. So panic set in. Why was this happening?

I tried numerous times to call the IRS and when I did reach my party for my specific issue, I was always told by the robot that at this time my specific issue cannot be addressed. That I need to call back the next business day. I've done my research. Looked at all the info on the IRS website but somehow there was no FAQ about my issue. That I was given the letter to be reinstated and not actually be reinstated.

I tried filing this year for my 990-N e postcard and I was rejected because it said quote "your EIN number was not found in our database". So that just proves my point that somehow I was given status without them changing it.

I've been struggling with this for months and I'm about ready to give up. I would like for Munchies Place to still have tax exempt status for those who donate to us, but I'm feeling hopeless.

Does anyone have any advice? I tried to see if there is a local IRS building, but they only do individual tax returns, not business related dealings. So I'm stuck. Can't talk to a real person, can't find answers. I was thinking of refilling my 1023 paperwork but that fee of $600 dollars is just too much if this was an honest error on their part. That money could go towards our animal care.

So any help is appreciated. Thank you so much for listening. 🙏

Hello community, it's been awhile and you're probably worried about us. Don't panic, it's been a difficult time and it's...
01/08/2024

Hello community,
it's been awhile and you're probably worried about us. Don't panic, it's been a difficult time and it's a known pattern for when the going gets tough, we don't focus on social media at all. That or only select social media which was YT last month for only a short period of time before the sun decided to cook us all in WA state.

Let me start off this conversation by saying I love and appreciate my volunteers. Seriously. Thank you team. I'm so glad you love animals and want to be a caretaker or transporter for them, to be their voice. To take them out of uncomfortable, terrible or just sometimes sad circumstances and try to make everything better for them. Life isn't fair. To animal kind and people kind. So thank you for being here at Munchie's Place and for lifting up my spirits whenever something happens in my personal life or a passing at the rescue. Ty kindly for caring.

I'll always be honest to the best of my abilities and right now I'm behind on cleaning tasks. Mainly just cleaning out unused cages or dirty hides. The amount of used bedding that's sitting in my garage because we don't have a large enough trash can, or that I don't have anytime to drive to the nearest dump site and pay for them to take my used bedding bags, is just a lot. Sometimes people wonder how I, Munchie, at the main house, even do it all. Well I used to and I had more animals back then than I do now. I still wonder how I did that while managing two jobs and a rescue. But I had a strong support system back then. Life changes constantly. And what I could handle years ago, I can't anymore due to a new job, a new location, a new place, a new schedule, new health issues, aging, the list can go on. Volunteers come and go. People change and we have to let go. Truly regular stuff you can probably relate to, even if you're not in the hobby of rescuing animals.

Juggling tasks has become hard. I spend 10 hours a day working. 2.5 hours I spend driving on average but I count that towards my total work hours, cause why else would I drive for that long otherwise? Some days it's easy to get to work. Others, not so much. When i get home, I'm exhausted since the job is very labor intense. For those that know me, truly know me, I am a hands on person. I don't do very well sitting at a desk for long periods of time. So my job is very physical. So it makes trying to clean up everything (since we had 56 animals at a time once, maybe even more), even harder. The amount of cage cleans is a lot with that many.

We are now down to almost a handful of critters, you would think cleaning would come easier. But stress is still a major factor for why some days I feel slower to do stuff than others. We are slowly losing the hamster intakes of Aug 2023, to medical problems. Sudden passing's without explanations other than we know their genetics were unhealthy because of the uncontrolled breeding of the past owner. Or maybe we didn't truly know some of their ages and honestly guessed.

For the remaining hamsters and gerbils, there are those at the rescue that we've decided to hold onto, like sanctuary animals. Just because finding the right homes has become too much of a burden for me unless people truly care about their wellbeing, it's rare to see someone invest in a hamster before seeking one from us. Our standards are now very high since this year we had someone rehome our hamster we adopted to them, on Facebook marketplace. I still CANNOT believe that. It haunts me. I knew it could be possible but seeing it after one of our lovely supporters pointed it out, was just a nail in the coffin to me. So now if someone truly wants a hamster from us, we don't list them and people must inquire via email about who we have. Petfinder is now fixed, but I've chosen to stay off of it for now and inquiries are from word of mouth. (ty to those who recommend us).

So my goal for the coming fall to winter 2024 would be to hopefully get more help. That way I can take a load off from always feeling like tasks are just getting pushed to the next day, week, etc. That the burnout stops creeping up on me. That and a family member on my partners side is passing. So I may need to vanish from online yet again to tackle whatever challenges we as a family may face.

If I were to win the lotto, I always told myself I would quit my job and focus souly on the rescue. I had the pleasure of doing it over the pandemic. And it was the best time of the rescues life. We saved so many. I had time to travel and pick up critters (also no one was on the road), to be answering emails as quickly as they were sent. If I had land, I would build a rescue building from the ground up. Invite trusted volunteers to my home. And if we had the money or volunteer power, maybe I could take a real vacation. The only time I ever considered it being a vacation was traveling to Arizona and back up to WA by car, within 24 hours, to visit family for just 4 total days. And even then you can't count that truly as a vacation, especially if you cant sleep and are driving for 9+ hours at a time.

I miss chatting with you all. I am only human and times like this feel like one in a few now a days. It's almost midnight for me and i still haven't relaxed after coming home from work. But I just checked emails, cleaned out some junk mail, fed the critters in the rescue and now I'll for the last half hour, try to do something for myself before falling asleep and waking up for work in 7 and a half hours.

You guys take care. I appreciate you all for letting me babble. I'll try taking some photos of the hammys/gerbils soon and hopefully can be back to posting consistently.

Sincerely,
Munchie

Still no word from Petfinder when they'll fix our account. I sent an email and it has not been received, as we have not ...
05/06/2024

Still no word from Petfinder when they'll fix our account. I sent an email and it has not been received, as we have not been responded to despite the website telling us they'd contact us right away. It appears they're too busy updating the website for new features, to bother with letting us use the adoption site we rely heavily on, as we don't opt always for CL ads. They tend to attract the wrong type of people and we are just tired of always having to explain our policy, despite it being right there in our application.

So for now, please hang tight for adoption ads and updates. We can't even edit the ads we have up at the moment. It's beyond frustrating. Please email us directly to inquire for a hamster, and we will send you photos of who we have currently.

Pictured: Helena from Pansey's litter born last year at the rescue. She is still available for adoption.

Community, At this time we cannot post to Petfinder due to error messages when trying to post an ad. We sent a notice to...
28/05/2024

Community,

At this time we cannot post to Petfinder due to error messages when trying to post an ad. We sent a notice to Petfinder about the problem but at this time any ads we had up that were trying to be edited, aren't working and those who are new to adoption status can't be posted.

Please feel free to inquire via our email about a hamster and we will share with you who's available. For right now, we have been waiting for a fix but it appears there are known issues.

Photo of: Sly our male gerbil who's attempting to be paired with another male who lost his partner.

On Memorial Day, we are reminded to honor our family, friends and loved ones who served. To those who didn't come back, ...
27/05/2024

On Memorial Day, we are reminded to honor our family, friends and loved ones who served.

To those who didn't come back, we wish you peace. You will never be forgotten.

Pictured: Cashewy. He's still available for adoption.

Munchies Place is still around and kicking, 2024 has not been a great start but we continue to care for the intake of 50...
15/04/2024

Munchies Place is still around and kicking, 2024 has not been a great start but we continue to care for the intake of 50+ hamsters, without taking in anymore since August 2023 (except for one case). Life sometimes happens where you have challenges you face, but slowly find a middle ground. I had posted last month on our FB but forgot to post via IG. Apologies. But soon Munchies Place will be uploading again, hopefully regularly and I'll also post here what was said via FB. So keep an eye out.

At this time the rescue has 24 animals left. One is a sanctuary animal and the others are still looking for homes. However our policy and application process has changed even further due to GOD AWFUL ADOPTEES, like one who rehomed our hamster on FB market instead of returning them to us, via the contract they signed. 🤬

Yeah, it's not been fun. But hey we are all in this together and soon I hope to be back to posting regularly on IG. Feeling better lately so ty for the encouragement.to continue to rescue and care for the little guys without voices. 🐭🐹

- Munchie

We cannot trust people, not even adopters, to do the right thing and this has broken us as a Rescue. This month we had t...
25/03/2024

We cannot trust people, not even adopters, to do the right thing and this has broken us as a Rescue. This month we had to rescue OUR OWN HAMSTER from being sold on FB market, by the adopters who signed our contract stating,

"I understand if I cannot take care of this pet for whatever reason, that I will make the effort to return it to Munchie's Place and will not sell, abandon or give away the animal without making the effort to return the animal to Munchie's Place"

Cloudberry's owner failed to reach out and we were notified by another adopter, that this women was selling Cloudberry. She only had him for 3 months before selling him on FB. No efforts were EVER made to reach out to us. She was selling him for the same amount that they paid for him along with his cage and accessories. Which now has prompted us to deny selling an entire cage together with an animal. People now MUST have a setup ready, because the trust is broken. But we see she just wanted the money back. She also claimed he had scars from fighting, which he did not, and claimed he came from a hoarding situation of 250+ hamsters, which that wasn't at all true. He was from a house with 200 hamsters. We opted to take in 50 after they were dropped off at a reptile rescue and Lala's Rescue took in the rest till we began shuffling them around to other rescues. He also is not 6 months, they couldn't even keep track of his age. He was at the time of rescue, 8+ months old. The tall tale people will go through is baffling. If only we could truly see their intentions beforehand, we would never have adopted to this person in the first place.

Thankfully we got him back safely thanks to multiple efforts of people who cared. Based on what the person who rescued him said, it sounded like the daughter was the only care taker which is way too young to hold any responsibility over. A hamster, much like a cat or dog, which this owner did have both, is a family pet. You do not give all ownership to a child. The other concerning thing was that they said Cloudberry bit, and he couldn't be handled without gloves because he terrified the daughter that badly. Cloudberry was the most chill, innocent hamster and his foster mama who had him prior, was shocked to hear this when we got him back. We have had people claim they bit when returning a hamster to us in the past, but upon receiving them, they were nether scared nor biting at us. Which is a sign they mishandled him, scared him while sleeping or woke him up to interact with him. We have been doing this since 2018, we know most returns/rescues are from child homes where the animal was stressed, but not stressed upon rescue.

What's worse is that the cage was exactly how it was setup when he was adopted in December 2023. They never changed position of the items, and based on what we see, he looks to have been on the same bedding. Wheel was covered in filth. We are surprised at how calm and comfortable he is overall.

There was a second situation at the same time we got Cloudberry back, that left us taking in our hamster from an owner who did in fact contact us to return them. And that was Linda's adopter. Linda is now in foster care of a personal friend of ours that may be her forever home now. But this person followed our contract and did what was right. And we appreciated that.

Frustrating that this is the first known hamster of ours that was being sold, breaking our contract (unless we are forgetting something in the past). We have started to shift over to becoming more of a sanctuary at the time (meaning they will remain in our care for the better). We are too nervous to want to adopt out any of the remaining hamsters with others at this time. Thankfully not everyone are bad eggs. If people truly cared, they'll reach out to us. We aren't taking in any animals, as stated on petfinder. But if anyone wishes to adopt, we are still open to adoption at this time so long as the person agrees in our long, detailed adoption application, what they're getting themselves into by adopting.

- Munchie

2023 had its challenges, that's for sure. Here's 2023's stats for how the rescue preformed. Compared to 2022:Intakes inc...
05/01/2024

2023 had its challenges, that's for sure. Here's 2023's stats for how the rescue preformed.

Compared to 2022:
Intakes increased by 65%. That was a lot for us to handle. Still is.
Adoptions decreased by 50%. Beginning of the year we were adopting out regularly but by the end of year, we were dead slow. It didn't help that many people chose to buy instead of adopt during the holidays and most people had asked us around fall if they could surrender when we were full.
Passing's decreased by 58%.
RIP to Starla, Cruella (her story was never told), Amaryllis, Effie/Deena/Queenie, Marlery, Mason, Doodlebug and Lando.
17 were born at the rescue. 100% increase, last year there was none.
We Transferred 19 animals out to other rescues, a 63% increase since last year.

In 2022 we helped out hamsters, gerbils and mice. Overall it was a difficult year for Munchie's Place with the intake of the 50 hamsters, 17 born, hard drive crash that wiped a good chunk of our rescues history and photos, job insecurity and juggling work life, home and rescue. As the years go by, we are thankful for our supporters for keeping us going, for believing in us and for understanding we are only human. Life happens so thank you for donating and adopting animals in need. Please consider becoming a local volunteer for your rescue/shelter. It makes a HUGE difference in your life and the animals life, besides those volunteering at the rescue.

And apologies for lack of communication. I will do better this year. I take responsibility for lack of communication via social media and emails. Last year I felt like quitting, but alas I want to keep helping our local community and these guys need a voice, so we will continue into 2024 to rescue and help animals in need.

Thank you to everyone, we couldn't have done it without you.

- Everyone @ Munchie's Place

It's official, Keys and Nico have transferred to and will try their luck at finding homes further down south. Thank you...
01/01/2024

It's official, Keys and Nico have transferred to and will try their luck at finding homes further down south.

Thank you Lala for agreeing to take them. She had empty cages so it all worked out. If you guys named Nico or Keys, please follow their rescue on social media and to everyone else, please also give Lalas a follow. They do more than just Hamsters and have a passion for the truly exotic ones like Chins or Heggies. 🐾

🐹 Comanche is a sweetheart. Cleaned his enclosure tonight and gave him more platforms since he loves to climb and perch.
29/12/2023

🐹 Comanche is a sweetheart. Cleaned his enclosure tonight and gave him more platforms since he loves to climb and perch.

✨Spotlight✨Victoria is our longest resident here at Munchies Place. Looking for a forever home with an owner who has a p...
29/12/2023

✨Spotlight✨

Victoria is our longest resident here at Munchies Place. Looking for a forever home with an owner who has a playpen for outside cage times. She's fully tame, hand trained to climb on your arm and into her playpen and is very person bonded. One of the sweetest you'll ever meet. Victoria is a well rounded companion. 🐾

Victoria has to be a single gerbil since she has had multiple failed and violent attempts to be paired. She used to be paired, twice even, but they fell out after a few months and the pairings after that were the violent ones. So she has to go to a home who's committed to spending time daily with her.

Victoria has been awaiting her forever home, are you looking for a sweet, most chilliest gerbil you'll ever know? Apply via our Petfinder profile if you're interested.

Location: King County, WA state but able to travel long distances along I-5. Please see our Petfinder profile on the desktop to learn more about our rescue.

https://www.petfinder.com/member/us/wa/ravensdale/munchies-place-for-homeless-pets-wa689/?referrer_id=fc5d3587-8044-48f9-9603-0d3aa66f75b0

Thank you to our Donor Christina for the chews. ♥️ They're being put to good use. 🐹
28/12/2023

Thank you to our Donor Christina for the chews. ♥️ They're being put to good use. 🐹

🎄 This holiday season we saw the least amount of inquiries for our critters than in past years. We asked our partnered ...
27/12/2023

🎄 This holiday season we saw the least amount of inquiries for our critters than in past years. We asked our partnered rescues if they had a similar experience this year and it seems to hold true.

We are speculating that it could be a few things. First people shopping for pets instead of considering a rescue pet from owners who couldn't care for them. We have plenty of hamsters. There really isn't a reason not to consider one. Secondly it could be due to inflation. And that's fine but the problem with that is that we had more inquiries over the summer than this holiday season. That's not normal for us at all and inflation was much higher than it is now.

So, what can help a rescue out so these guys actually find homes? Word of mouth is what we are now going off of. When someone recommends us, it helps. A lot. Truly it does. I have been absent a lot this year. Trying to pick my life back up and trying to support the rescue has been hard to keep up with on social media where we really needed to be. So I feel guilty in a way that I couldn't be there for the critters like I should. However if others recommend us, it truly does help hamsters like Pansey here, get adopted.

So thank you truly to our supporters this year. With your help we took in 50+ hamsters to care for. With your help we got new supplies. With niteangels help we got two new cages. With your help we got hamsters, mice and gerbils to the vets. And thank you to our volunteers who helped out when I was unavailable to do more, or foster homes who took care of some of the fosters. Bless you guys and thank you for believing in our cause.

- Munchie

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays 🎄Photo credit: Jeanette K.
25/12/2023

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays 🎄

Photo credit: Jeanette K.

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 🎄

Tonight I had to get home much later than ideal. I was attacked and my store was robbed, I'm okay. I'm glad no one else ...
23/12/2023

Tonight I had to get home much later than ideal. I was attacked and my store was robbed, I'm okay. I'm glad no one else was hurt, my team was so sweet about everything since I was the one that the criminals interacted with. But this was a group of young adults who decided to make very poor choices. Store was shut down, I was with police all night and had to close the store like normal. It didn't ruin my night but it made things go slow for me. Still trying to process it all. I have an interview with an officer tomorrow since they laid their hands on me, so now I'm involved if the person goes to jail from my understanding of what the officer said.

🌈 So ...I came home and ate dinner because I had nothing to eat since 11am and when I finally went to the hamster room, I was checking on everyone and found Linda's baby who looked exactly like her, had passed away. He was stiff so he didn't just pass. It was earlier today. I named him Lando. He was boy #1 on his tag. But he was one of the hamsters that wasn't growing from Linda's. Surprisingly enough the girl who I've said needed to be supervised, is still alive. But everyone I wasn't suspecting, is passing. And knowing Doodlebug died of heart disease, we know everyone in this pet room has a history of it since they were all in**ed from 4 original hamsters.

So ask me in a few days, probably after Christmas, if I am okay. And I'll let you know. ♥️ For now, unless something else happens. I, Munchie, am officially tapping out of social media till everything is calmer. Ty for understanding. Merry Holiday Season.

- Munchie

🌈 Results for Doodle from Vets: Suspected Underlying Heart Disease. Also doodle was a female. Just wanted to note that. ...
22/12/2023

🌈 Results for Doodle from Vets:
Suspected Underlying Heart Disease. Also doodle was a female. Just wanted to note that. But now I have closure. We can suspect that the other two who passed suddenly, also had underlying heart disease since they're all connected to the original 4 hamsters at the house who had 200 roaming it, from the 50 litter intake.

I'm at work now but at least I can relax a little. Good luck Ms. doodlebug. Your donated body will be used in the medical field for future vets. Thank you little one for being a wonderful little hammy. I'm seriously going to miss you.

- Munchie 🐹

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😞 Saying goodbye to DoodleBug. Her and Corrin which were both young at the time of rescue from the 50 hamster intake, have shown signs of decreased activity but are eating fine, poops are normal. Suddenly today at night we find Doodle already too far gone with sunken sides and shallow breathing. We will be with her tonight until she passes. And then she will be brought to our vets, if they permit, for a necropsy. I'm glad I held onto these guys for so long, cause with every accidental litter intake, there's a high risk for some sort of disease that is passed onto the pups. And Doodle/Corrin are expected of being siblings without actually knowing if they truly were. They're related of course but same litter? Perhaps. But if this is another heart disease case, you'll probably hear from me again tomorrow. You know how common it is in our necropsy reports of the past. The sailor moon litter was plagued with it. 😭 This is why it's hard for me to take in litters all the time. I know too well how much suffering these guys will face, not even within a year. Please wish Doodle a safe and painless passing. We truly loved her dearly. This feels so unfair to us. Knowing how bright and perky she was yesterday night. 🌈 I'll let you all know when she has crossed.

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It all Started with a Cat in Need

In Winter 2016 we were introduced to the world of animal rescue thanks to an abandoned cat we named “Pumpkin”. She was emaciated and left behind by her owners with several medical needs. She was deaf, had arthritis in her hips and had thyroid disease. We cared for her till October 2018 when she passed away due to her ongoing medical struggles. Because of her, we continue to care for those in need who had no place to go. We started fostering cats after her till spring of 2018 when we transitioned from Cats to Small Animals (Hamsters, Gerbils, Mice). Due to having almost no resources or rescues in our state for small animals, we switched from Munchie’s Place for Homeless Cats to Munchie’s place for Homeless Pets. Our Founder who goes by Munchie, had a passion for hamsters. She rescued several personal hamsters before realizing she could foster hamsters and give them to loving homes once they’ve been rehabilitated. Because hamsters are misunderstood and people were misinformed about them, she made it her mission to educate the public on proper care. After the success of fostering hamsters herself, she opened up her small mammal rescue where she and a group of volunteers help care for these small companions. Thanks to the passion of these volunteers, they among our community of support have helped the lives of small animals in need. We cannot thank you enough for sharing a passion alongside us in helping out these fantastic creatures in our community.