Therapy-dog visits further charitable purposes

Plain-English summary

A section 501(c)(3) research institute proposed a free pet-therapy program for hospital patients, particularly children, and elderly nursing-home residents. Registered, health-certified therapy dogs would visit with trained and insured volunteer handlers under agreements with participating facilities. The program aimed to reduce anxiety, loneliness, depression, and other mental or physical distress while encouraging social interaction. The IRS ruled that these services further charitable purposes because relieving the distressed and meeting the elderly's special needs are charitable activities. The ruling did not reconsider the institute's underlying exempt status or public-charity classification.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: Does providing pet visitation therapy to hospitalized people and nursing-home residents further the institute's exempt purposes?
• Outcome: Approved. The therapy-dog program furthers charitable purposes under section 501(c)(3).
• Key authorities: IRC § 501(c)(3); Treas. Reg. § 1.501(c)(3)-1; Rev. Rul. 68-73; Rev. Rul. 72-124; Rev. Rul. 79-17

Full text (IRS public release)

Internal Revenue Service Department of the Treasury
Washington, DC 20224

Number: 201719018 Third Party Communication: None
Release Date: 5/12/2017 Date of Communication: Not Applicable
Index Number: 501.03-00
Person To Contact:
----------------------------- -----------------------, ID No. -----------
------------------------------------------- Telephone Number:
---------------------- ----------------------
---------------------------------------- Refer Reply To:
CC:TEGE:EOEG:EO:1
PLR-129109-16
Date:
February 13, 2017

LEGEND

Institute = ----------------------------

Dear -----------------:

This letter responds to a letter dated August 26, 2016, and subsequent correspondence,
requesting a ruling that providing pet visitation as therapy to hospitalized individuals is in
furtherance of Institute’s exempt purposes under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code.1

FACTS

Institute is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (Service) as an organization
described in § 501(c)(3). Its articles of incorporation provide that Institute is organized
exclusively for purposes described in § 501(c)(3), and, in particular, to conduct oncology
research and education, emphasizing the development, diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of malignant tumors in humans and animals, and to advance medical
research and education emphasizing recognition, prevention, and treatment of
diseases.

Institute proposes to initiate a pet therapy program (Program). The goal of the Program
is to provide playful interaction between therapy dogs and hospital inpatients,
particularly children, and elderly nursing home residents. Institute believes that children
and the elderly will derive a positive and therapeutic psychological and emotional

1
The Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, to which all subsequent “section” references are
made unless otherwise indicated.
PLR-129109-16 2

benefit from their interaction with therapy dogs, which will lift their spirits and improve
their ability to cope with anxiety.

The Program will use registered therapy dogs that are health certified and have been
trained and tested to act as therapy dogs around children and the elderly. Initially, the
therapy dogs will be accompanied by an experienced handler who is qualified to
conduct pet therapy sessions. Therapy sessions will be conducted at hospitals and
nursing homes at no fee to the participant, the hospital, or the nursing home.

The Program will solicit volunteer handlers to take their dogs to hospitals and nursing
homes. A dog will be accepted into the Program only if it has a proper health certificate
and has been trained and tested for suitability as a therapy dog around children and the
elderly. Volunteer handlers must pass a criminal background check, be adequately
insured to cover the risks inherent with pets, and be trained and certified to conduct pet
therapy sessions. Once selected for the Program, the volunteer handler will be
personally trained and tested by a Program officer, and will be expected to demonstrate
a genuine passion for the Program’s mission. The owner of any dog participating in the
Program will be responsible for the cost of training, certifying, and registering his or her
dog as a therapy dog, as well as all costs of maintaining and caring for the dog.

Institute’s directors intend to promote the Program to hospital and nursing home
administrators. If it is determined that the Program is suitable at a particular hospital or
nursing home, Institute will enter into an agreement with that hospital or nursing home
to provide pet therapy to its patients or residents on a regular weekly schedule.

RULING REQUESTED

Institute has requested the following ruling:

   Providing pet visitation as therapy to hospitalized individuals is in furtherance of
   Institute’s exempt purposes under § 501(c)(3).

LAW

Section 501(a) provides generally that an organization described in § 501(c) is exempt
from federal income taxes.

Section 501(c)(3) describes entities that are organized and operated exclusively for
charitable, educational, scientific, and certain other purposes.

Section 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(1) of the Income Tax Regulations (the “regulations”) provides
that an organization will be regarded as “operated exclusively” for one or more exempt
purposes only if it engages primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of such
exempt purposes specified in § 501(c)(3). An organization will not be so regarded if
PLR-129109-16 3

more than an insubstantial part of its activities is not in furtherance of an exempt
purpose.

Section 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(1)(i) of the regulations includes “charitable” among the
purposes for which an organization described in § 501(c)(3) may be exclusively
organized and operated.

Section 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2) of the regulations provides that the term “charitable” is used
in § 501(c)(3) in its generally accepted legal sense, and includes relief of the poor and
distressed.

Rev. Rul. 68-73, 1968-1 C.B. 251, considers whether an organization created to
minister to the non-medical needs of patients of a proprietary hospital by reading to
them, writing letters for them, and providing other similar personal services in an effort
to improve their mental well-being and physical comfort qualifies for exemption under
§ 501(c)(3). The organization is not related to or controlled by the proprietary hospital.
The services are not of a type that is ordinarily provided by a hospital, and members of
the organization are not permitted to engage in any activity performed by the hospital
staff or employees in the ordinary course of hospital operations. Membership in the
organization is open to anyone in the community. In concluding that the organization is
exempt from federal income tax under § 501(c)(3), the Service said that by ministering
to the needs of hospital patients by performing personal services in an effort to improve
the mental well-being and physical comfort of those patients, the organization is
performing charitable acts. The fact that these acts are performed in a proprietary
hospital is not material because the primary beneficiaries are the patients, and any
benefits to the hospital are merely incidental.

Rev. Rul. 72-124, 1972-1 C.B. 145, considers whether an organization formed for the
purpose of establishing and operating a home for the elderly is organized and operated
exclusively for charitable purposes. In concluding that the organization is exempt from
Federal income tax under § 501(c)(3), the Service recognized that the elderly, as a
class, are highly susceptible to unique forms of distress due to their special needs in
advanced age, and said that satisfaction of these special needs, which contributes to
the prevention and elimination of the causes of these unique forms of distress, may, in
the proper context, constitute charitable purposes or functions.

Rev. Rul. 79-17, 1979-1 C.B. 193, considers whether a nonprofit hospice, operated on
both an inpatient and outpatient basis to alleviate the physical and mental distress of the
terminally ill, is operated exclusively for charitable purposes and qualifies for exemption
under § 501(c)(3). The organization assists persons of all ages who have been advised
by a physician that they are terminally ill to cope with the distress arising from their
conditions. It utilizes and coordinates the professional skills of physicians, nurses,
therapists, social workers, the clergy, counselors, and lawyers in a planned effort to
alleviate the physical and mental distress of dying persons. It does not seek cures
PLR-129109-16 4

through extensive medical treatments that may not significantly alter terminal illnesses,
but rather focuses on lessening the distress, pain, and physical difficulties experienced
by dying persons. In concluding that the organization qualifies for exemption under
§ 501(c)(3), the Service said that by alleviating the mental and physical distress of
terminally ill persons, the organization relieves the distressed within the meaning of
§ 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2) of the regulations.

ANALYSIS

Services provided to hospital patients and other persons in mental or physical distress
that are directed to lessening such distress and to improving mental well-being and
physical comfort can constitute activities that further charitable purposes under
§ 501(c)(3). See Rev. Rul. 68-73 and Rev. Rul. 79-17. Furthermore, activities that are
specifically designed to meet the special needs of the elderly may constitute a
charitable purpose by mitigating or eliminating a unique cause of distress to which the
elderly, as a class, are highly susceptible. See Rev. Rul. 72-124.

A hospital patient, particularly if he or she is a child, may suffer mental and physical
distress, not only due to his or her illness or incapacity, but also due to being in an
unfamiliar and stressful environment. An elderly nursing home resident may suffer from
social isolation, loneliness, and depression, forms of distress to which the elderly, as a
class, are highly susceptible. The Program will offer hospital patients, particularly
children, and elderly nursing home residents the opportunity to participate in pet therapy
sessions during which the participant will play with a trained, health-certified, and
registered therapy dog, and interact with the dog’s handler, who has been trained and
who is qualified to conduct pet therapy sessions. These sessions will be conducted with
the goal of lessening distress, improving mental well-being, and encouraging
socialization. Consequently, the Program, as described above, furthers charitable
purposes.

RULING

Based solely on the facts and representations submitted by Institute, we rule as follows:

   The Program furthers charitable purposes within the meaning of § 501(c)(3).

The ruling contained in this letter is based upon information and representations
submitted by or on behalf of Institute (accompanied by a penalty of perjury statement
executed by an individual with authority to bind Institute) and upon the understanding
that there will be no material changes in the facts. This office has not verified any of the
material submitted in support of the request for rulings, and such material is subject to
verification on examination. The Associate office will revoke or modify a letter ruling
and apply the revocation retroactively if there has been a misstatement or omission of
controlling facts; the facts at the time of the transaction are materially different from the
PLR-129109-16 5

controlling facts on which the ruling was based; or, in the case of a transaction involving
a continuing action or series of actions, the controlling facts change during the course of
the transaction. See Rev. Proc. 2017-1, § 11.05.

No ruling is granted as to whether Institute qualifies as an organization described in
§ 501(c) or § 509(a)(1), (2), or (3), and, except as expressly provided above, no opinion
is expressed or implied concerning the federal income tax consequences of any other
aspects of any transaction or item of income described in this letter ruling.

This letter ruling is directed only to the taxpayer who requested it. Section 6110(k)(3)
provides that it may not be used or cited as precedent.

In accordance with the Power of Attorney on file with this office, a copy of this letter is
being sent to your authorized representatives.

                                   Sincerely,



                                   Theodore R. Lieber
                                   Senior Tax Law Specialist
                                   Exempt Organizations Branch 1
                                   (TEGE Associate Chief Counsel)

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