Dear AAS,
What advice can you lend to my situation? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I am the President of a non-profit animal rescue organization known as B.A.R.K. (Blount Animal Rescue Kennel). We have been rescuing animals for the last twenty-five years, however, we have only been non-profit since 1997. We are based out of a rural community in central Alabama, USA. This entire county is known for its ignorance and "good ole boy" mentality. Our county has been is violation of the state ordered compliance of having an animal control officer and an animal shelter. We are now in the process of trying to establish an animal shelter but only after a lawsuit was filed against the county for it's dereliction of duty in this regards. The problem now lies in the fact that a group of individuals (who are not non-profit) and have only been in existence for a short period of time have duped the politicians into letting them run things. We have investigated these people and have found that they have no non-profit status (but they are telling people they DO) and are soliciting donations of money and supplies through fraudulant means. These people are also breeding dogs for profit under the guise of an animal rescue organization. I have contacted the local authorities but they don't seem to be interested in this problem. I have also discovered that one of the individuals that is involved has relatives who are in the law enforcement field who I believe are halting the progress of this investigation. I can't seem to get this matter to anyone who will act on these allegations. These people are ruining the donation situation for us and others in the community who are doing TRUE animal rescue!! Do you have any suggestions of anything else that we might try? Thanks Sandra Shaffer-Scott