My Nonprofit Reviews

Please, Please, Please do not give your money to Northstar. They may have been mis-using funds. Patty took our money in 2015 and gave us the run around. There have been so many familes taken advantage of, just see the reviews from 2015 and beyond...https://greatnonprofits.org/org/north-star-foundation-2

We spoke in early July of 2015 regarding Northstar providing a service dog for our son who has Autism. After a very lengthy conversation, it was agreed that your Northstar would be a good match to pair our child with a dog, and Patty encouraged us to gather funds in the amount of $7500 so that she could provide him with a dog with full public service, she asked that we come up with $5000 so that he would be placed on your their list.
She and I spoke several times via telephone, facebook and email over the next few months, and an initial $5000 deposit was sent to her December 11th 2015 after she had emailed me 11/10 /15 stating:
“If you send this funding to me now I will put you on the waiting list, so I could hopefully have a North Star pup for you by next summer…” (Meaning summer of 2016).,
However, when I inquired in February of 2016, she stated that our son would NOT be receiving a dog the summer of 2016, but rather, his puppy would be born in November. When I asked for an explanation,
her February 23rd, 2016 email reply was: “Our waiting list is running about a year from the time you completed your fundraising and handed in your signed placement agreement...I have you down on our golden list, and we will be having several golden litter this year.”
I replied to this email, the same date, stating: “Thank you. Last we spoke you had mentioned Lily was ideal and would be bred this spring. We are Facebook friends, I feel like you've forgotten our conversations? I'm a little confused”
To which she responded, on the same date: “Hmmm...no, I know you've been on our waiting list for a few months and I know you are on our golden list and that Lily is one of our next girls to be bred...but one year's wait from the time you sign up is likely the timef rame for your wait, which I am sorry for but which is necessary in this field as "purpose bred" pups for this work is the standard and this necessitates a wait as we are dependent on Nature. “
I immediately sent the response: “Great, thank you. So we should expect around November for our child? “
And she responded 2/23/16 :“Yes, November will be about the time we will expect your pup to be born...I always try to beat the year's wait, but Nature sometimes trips me up...we have some very healthy girls like Nola and Lily about to have their second and first litters respectively so we're in very good shape!”


I checked in with Patty via email on 5/14/16, inquiring if we were still on for November, and you replied the same day “Than and yes about November and Lily's first litter…”

On 9/10/16 my family and I travelled to Patty's home to meet Lily and to personally hand her the remailing $2500 required to complete the $7500 payment for our son's service dog. At this time, she again assured us that we would be receiving a dog for our son from Lily’s litter.

Lily did deliver, however we were told again that our son would not receive his pup that he was was last on the waiting this for “this round” and he would not be receiving a pup, but she reassured us that he was FIRST on the list for the next round! Of course this was devastating, as we had already been given two separate times (Summer and then November) and we still did not have a companion for our child.



I spoke with Patty via facebook on January 13th 2017, inquired how Lily was doing and when she might expect to carry, and she answered: “Lily’s next heat will likely be May and we already have the same stud as her last litter (a dog I love named Kash) lined up...pregnancy in dogs is 9 weeks, so we are looking at a mid summer litter, my favorite kind!”

I again, spoke with Patty via Facebook May 2nd, inquiring if Lily should still be coming into heat that month, to which you responded, on the same date, “ Yes, this month or next...I have my eye on her but you know what they say about a watched pot not boiling!”

May 24th 2017, after hearing nothing, I inquired via facebook again, and Patty did not respond until June 8th, at which time she stated “ She’s doing well! No sign of heat yet, but she’s been to the vet, had her yearly exam and he heartguard/nexgard doses….her stud is waiting in CO for her to come into heat as is Dr.Huntington at Suffield Vet, an expert in her field of canine reproduction! I’ll be sure to keep you posted….

July 14th again, via facebook, I inquired and she stated :She’s ok but not insemination yet, everything is in place but the correct hormone level!”

August 7 2017, Again, via facebook, I inquired and her same day response was “ Hi, Not yet, but not sure….I’m taking Lily in tomorrow for her second heat check. I’ll be sure to keep you posted”

We did not hear from her, so I again, reached out to her via facebook on 8/27/17 and asked for a public update as people are starting to wonder what is going on, she replied that you would post an update to my facebook wall “I’ll do this Tuesday when I’m finally home and back at my desk”

This was not done by her, so I sent her an email September 1st stating “Would still love an update I can share with our son's supports when you can”
I did not receive a response, so again, I emailed her on September 10th, with the same request “Not sure if my last email went through. We'd still love and appreciate an update. We had anticipated that Lily would have delivered around this time, secondary to our previous conversations, just wondering where we're at. “

She responded 9/11 stating :
“ Hi ,
Sorry I didn't yet post to your page....I feel a tad awkward doing so as Lily is pregnant, but I don't yet know how many pup she is having....I have you as the seventh family on her list, so we'll have to have a litter of at least seven healthy well tempered pups to have one be yours, which is not unusual for pups from our healthy line....still, I don't like to get lots of hopes up before the pups are born as Nature can be cruel and capricious....I prefer to deliver the litter and then pass on good news, so I'm hoping you can keep this info under your hat for just ten more days so that we can know how many she has when she has them (she's due from 9/16 to 9/22nd...).”

I was shocked to hear this, as she had mentioned several times that our son was FIRST on Lily’s list (And also obviously very excited that she was due very soon”

I emailed her a reply, with a screenshot of our conversations stating “ Last year, you had said our son's puppy would be born in November (see screenshot), but he did not receive a puppy, then you stated when we spoke he would be first on list for Lily's next litter. I'm very confused, and a little upset. Please clarify”



To which she responded (on the same date) “You're right....sorry! I misread your year of completing your fundraising as 11/16, but it was actually 11/15...

So, yes, Lily's litter is due in about 10 days and you're sure to have one of these pups for you”

I checked in with her via email September 21st as to the progress to which she responded 9/22/17 “Yes, I think she's going to be due in mid October....she's looking very healthy and eating well!”

I was confused by this as she had stated on 9/11 that Lily was “due in about 10 days” , when I inquired why we were now being told October, she sent me an email 9/22/17 claiming “There were two attempted matings, and one would have had her delivering this weekend, and the other in mid October....I'm thinking the mid August mating was the one to take, leaving us in mid October for delivery…”

When I inquired on 10/15/17 via email, she responded 10/17/17 that Lily wasn’t even expecting.

I contacted a local breeder and a local vet after all of this and was told that there is no way any of this was accurate. After contacting Patty, she gave a multitude of excuses, and we requested our deposit back, she then offered to "Drop off a dog" that she has been "travelling the country with" and called a random trainer (That day) to attempt to "Set up training".
We discovered all of the reviews, and have heard from dozens of trainers, families, vets and former employees of Patty/Northstar foundation regarding non-payment, sick dogs and mis-use of funds.
Patty is refusing to return our son's $7500 at this time, and we are working with local law enforcement/media to make sure that a solution is found and other families are protected. Please feel free to contact us @ stolenpaws@gmail.com if you would like to speak to the media/attorney about your experience if you to, have been a victim
After threatening legal action, Patty, on October 18th, offered to "Drop off" a Dog named "angel" at our house.
We, over the course of several months, have repeatedly requested our son's funds be returned, and in response have received several emails/messages from Patty demanding that we remove our review of our honest experience with Northstar before she would be returning funds (Basically holding our money hostage). I had to block her on facebook as I was receiving agressive messages such as this one dated 11/19 "I told you I was taking your case to my board, and I did, and they requested you take down your slanderous post, so this is what needs to happen now." And this one the same date: "You don't scare me , but I can see you will remain unreasonable to the end.
Stop the slander and get your donation returned "
We notice in this time frame multiple *new reviews* with pictures, that although appear under several usernames, sound an awful lot like Patty in our opinion (as another reviewer mentioned, it appears that positive reviews on this site come from Patty herself)
As of 12/21/2017, After multiple emails from Patty demanding that we remove our review before return our funds, she has sent a refund so that we may avoid legal action. I am very glad to be finished with this nightmare, and pray that no other family goes through the heartbreak and abuse that this agency put us through :(

More Feedback