Humboldt County says Miranda’s Rescue can remain open during probe

Deputy County Counsel Destinee Valeska said Miranda’s Rescue could stay open during the criminal probe because investigators are still gathering evidence and the county’s land-use authority is narrower than many residents assume.

Sacramento animal-welfare nonprofit Fix Our Shelters, through Ryther Law Group, demanded that county officials shut the Fortuna rescue down immediately. The letter argued the county should have moved sooner, described Miranda’s Rescue as a care-and-adoption sanctuary rather than a killing facility or burial ground, and pointed to years of alleged complaints and warnings.

The criminal case has moved quickly since the county received credible information about alleged felony animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud and conspiracy on April 22. Investigators served the first search warrant on May 1 at about 6:30 p.m. and returned with a second search warrant on June 23 at 8:00 a.m. because hundreds of animals remained unaccounted for. The probe includes the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, California Attorney General’s Office, California Department of Justice, USDA, FBI, USDA Office of Inspector General, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, with Cal Poly Humboldt Anthropology Department staff, the Animal Legal Defense Fund and private forensic veterinarians assisting the excavation.

Hundreds of dogs were transferred or turned over to Miranda’s Rescue, and a significant number remain unaccounted for. Sheriff William Honsal said investigators recovered 91 microchips and more than 600 dog collars, while veterinarians made a preliminary determination that many of the dogs died from gunshot wounds. At least 117 dog remains were buried at the property.

Miranda’s Rescue’s conditional-use and coastal development permits were approved on Aug. 4, 2003. A later county notice said the conditional-use permit expired on Sept. 17, 2004, while conditions of approval still had not been completed, and the county later warned the rescue it could face permit suspension unless it signed a compliance agreement tied to floodplain-related improvements.

At a June 2 Board of Supervisors meeting, residents voiced both support and opposition toward Shannon Miranda and the rescue. Many Bay Area shelters severed ties during the investigation. The Palm Springs Animal Shelter said two puppies it had transferred to Miranda’s Rescue were among the dead animals found, and that it had sent 35 animals there since fall 2024.

Miranda incorporated Miranda’s Rescue For Large and Small Animals in 1998, after he said a 1994 lumber-mill accident left him wheelchair-bound. In 2007, the state Assembly named the organization “Best Sanctuary for Abused Animals in Northern California.”