Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has filed a lawsuit against Bartlett Animal Shelter Support and its director, Laura Mace, alleging the nonprofit misused donor funds meant to help animals in the Memphis suburb. The nonprofit, known by the acronym BASS, solicited donations from the public under the promise of supporting local shelter animals.
According to WKRN News 2, Skrmetti said Bartlett Animal Shelter Support misused donor funds, and his office named Mace, who served as the group's director, as a defendant alongside the organization itself. The lawsuit lands amid a broader civil enforcement campaign the attorney general's office has pursued against financial misrepresentation, one that has recently touched both nonprofits and private businesses across the state, per the dossier's research notes.
How BASS Collected Money From Donors
Public records reviewed by GuideStar show that Bartlett Animal Shelter Support was recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity in 2022, with Mace listed as principal officer. The organization later dropped off the IRS Business Master File after failing to maintain filings beyond a Form 990-N, a lapse that typically signals the loss of active tax-exempt standing.
The group operated out of a commercial post office box, PMB 220 at 6025 Stage Road in Bartlett, and solicited community contributions online through Cash App under the handle $901BASS, Venmo as @BASS901, and PayPal, according to the group's Facebook presence. Whether BASS continued collecting funds through those same digital payment accounts after losing its active nonprofit registration remains an open question.
A Separate Municipal Shelter, Not Named in the Suit
The lawsuit does not target the City of Bartlett's actual animal shelter. The official Bartlett Animal Shelter is a municipal government department run directly by the city's Division of Animal Services at 5220 Shelter Run Lane, operating independently from private volunteer support groups like BASS. That municipal shelter made local headlines last October when it had to pause all dog intakes for 10 days after a parvovirus outbreak hit its kennels.
Adding to potential confusion for donors, a distinct local nonprofit called Friends of Bartlett Animal Shelter operates out of a separate box at the very same 6025 Stage Road commercial mail facility. That group has run legitimate shelter improvement projects, including raising more than $21,000 for custom cat kennels, according to posts shared in local Facebook community groups.
What the State Can Do Next
Tennessee law requires any organization soliciting donations in the state to register with the Secretary of State, which gives the attorney general authority to investigate civil violations tied to misdirected donor funds. Under Tennessee Code § 48-101-513, documentation gathered during state charitable solicitation reviews can be used by prosecutors to pursue civil injunctions, financial restitution, or potential criminal referrals, though the dossier does not indicate whether any criminal referral has been made in this case.
If BASS faces dissolution or structural oversight as a result of the suit, Tennessee guidelines require nonprofits in that position to submit asset inventories and distribution plans to the attorney general's Public Interest Division, which reviews such distributions to safeguard charitable assets. The exact dollar amount of donor funds alleged to have been misused has not been specified in available filings.
Part of a Wider Pattern for the AG's Office
This is not Skrmetti's first high-profile civil action this year. In January, his office finalized an $8.75 million settlement with parking provider Metropolis Technologies following a probe into undisclosed fees and misleading billing practices. The following month, the office filed a nearly 400-page deceptive practices complaint in Davidson County Chancery Court against a Nashville towing operation, continuing a pattern of using state court complaints to halt what it characterizes as financial deception against Tennessee residents.
