A beleaguered pet adoption program in Newbury Park will continue to operate, its leader said Tuesday as a Westlake Village-based charity presented a $10,000 check to help pay his tax obligations and other costs that had threatened to shut him down.

Josh Pasewaldt, the 28-year-old founder of the adoption program, said he is making changes to avoid such problems in the future.

Pasewaldt, operator of a pet supply store, also acknowledged criticism from some who say the problems were largely of his own making and served to publicize his for-profit business.

After hearing that the adoption program was in jeopardy, Marilyn Stoddard, executive director of the Good Samaritan Society, a nonprofit group with headquarters in Westlake Village, presented the check and adopted one of the dogs that Pasewaldt rescued from a Kern County shelter.

"Josh defines what makes a good Samaritan," Stoddard said. "To jump in his van and go get these animals and not to do it for profit, that's a lot of dedication right there. You don't often find someone who's that passionate about what they're doing, and we don't want him to shut down."

Stoddard handed over the check Tuesday after examining Pasewaldt's financial records. It came on the heels of an Aug. 17 fundraiser that raised more than $11,000 but left him $10,000 short of his goal.

"It's the greatest thing I have seen in a long time," Pasewaldt said. "Plenty of people have given plenty of money, and I can't ask for anything more. I'm going to keep going."

Since he started rescuing kittens and dogs from the Kern County shelter in March 2007, Pasewaldt's records indicate that he has placed more than 1,500 animals with new owners, charging them only what he paid to get the animals out of the shelter.

Although his project won praise from local animal lovers, he announced this month that his accountant recently determined he owed sales tax on all money received for those animals and income tax on donations he received. Authorities also required him to buy an enclosed, air-conditioned trailer to transport the animals, he said.

As a result, he said, he would have to end the program unless he could raise more than $20,000 to pay off his debts.

Pasewaldt said he has received phone calls and heard of other complaints alleging he is making money on the adoption program and using the publicity to promote his feed store, Newbury Park Pet Supply. Calling the allegations "really offensive," he said he has not personally profited from any of the adoptions.

"I do not pay myself a salary out of it, and all the money goes directly to the dogs, to their food, their care, their cages and the upgrades," he said.

"It's obvious that it helps business and brings in customers, but I am a legitimately honest person trying to do a good thing, and I am saving lives as a loss leader. It wasn't a brilliant business plan. It was an accident. But it was a good thing because these animals, more than 1,500 of them, got to live."

Pasewaldt said he has learned his lesson and now charges sales taxes on the animals. "I am reporting everything as I am supposed to," he said, adding that he hopes to form a registered, tax-exempt nonprofit organization soon.