Therapet
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- Only 50% of its spending went to programs.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
Therapets mission is to utilize specially trained and certified animals to promote health, hope, and healing. We accomplish this mission by:1. Establishing and communicating standards for using specially trained animals in the healthcare setting.2. Providing education to health care professionals.3. Educating communities on opportunities and benefits of Animal Assisted Therapy.4. Training, certifying, and assuring competency of human/animal volunteer teams.
- Income
- $403,436
- Spending
- $343,743
- Spent on programs
- 50%
- Reserves
- 20.4 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 87%
- Employees
- 3
- Volunteers
- 161
- Highest pay
- $66,225, executive dir.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 85 out of 100. Higher than 56% of charities in its peer group (animals, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 20.4 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 15% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 4% on the year before.
Spending floor
0 of 1550% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 24 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 81% of charities in its peer group (animals, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2515 of 15 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (1)
- $170,880 spent. Since 1994, Therapet has provided Animal Assisted Activities (AAA) or Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) free of charge. Therapet is directly involved in a wide range of human services including physical and cognitive rehabilitation, therapeutic interventions with victims of family violence and sexual assault, reading programs, education seminars, and community events. In 2025, Therapet sponsored approximately 86 human/animal teams including 78 dogs, 3 cats and a cockatoo. Therapet teams served the community with approximately 7,427 volunteer hours of AAA/AAT and an estimated 5,000 human/animal encounters yearly including over 1,351 animal visits. Therapets 2025 accomplishments:1. Therapet Skills Class: Therapet continued training teams with 20 formal classes especially designed to train new teams. 9 new teams were certified.2.Team re-certification: To ensure Therapet teams are highly skilled, certified teams undergo an annual recertification process and volunteer orientation. 66 teams were recertified.3.AAA/AAT programs: Therapet maintained or enhanced AAA/AAT services to an extremely wide range of settings. These include the following:a.Community agencies who provide emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.b.Community agencies who serve as advocate for abused children.c.Hospitals, rehabilitation centers and schools for patients, clients, students who are mentally challenged, have a neurologic deficit due to stroke, injury or birth defect or those who are recovering from major surgical procedures or debilitating diseases.d.Community agencies and schools to assist students reading below grade level improve reading skills and comprehension.4.Capacity building: Therapet has hired an executive director since 2015 and this has enabled us to focus on growth and retention with the goal to be able to remove agencies from our waiting list and meet the demand for our services.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since September 1997.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.