Humboldt County investigators are examining allegations that dogs sent from Bay Area shelters to Miranda’s Rescue were killed and buried.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office
Dogs from Bay Area shelters were sent to a remote Northern California animal rescue that promoted itself as a no-kill refuge. Now, Humboldt County investigators are looking into allegations that some of those dogs were killed, buried and falsely reported as adopted.
A search warrant affidavit filed in the investigation says sheriff’s deputies recovered eight dead dogs from Miranda’s Rescue, a Fortuna nonprofit that has taken in animals from shelters across California, including Oakland and Berkeley, according to documents reviewed by the Lost Coast Outpost.
The dogs’ remains were covered in dirt and blood, and some had what appeared to be bullet holes in their heads, the affidavit says.
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The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has said its major crimes division is investigating “credible” allegations of felony animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud and conspiracy involving the rescue.
No arrests or criminal charges had been publicly announced as of Wednesday, May 20. The allegations remain under investigation, and the affidavit represents an investigator’s account — not a court finding.
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The case has alarmed animal welfare officials well beyond Humboldt County. Public shelters often rely on private rescues to take dogs they cannot house, especially large dogs or animals with medical or behavioral needs.
Miranda’s Rescue, located on Sandy Prairie Road in Fortuna, describes itself on its website as a “no kill rescue, adoption & sanctuary facility” that helps abused, neglected and discarded animals.
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Its website lists dozens of animals as adopted and says the organization’s mission is to rescue, rehabilitate and find homes for animals “large & small.”
The Sheriff’s Office said it received information April 22 about allegations involving the rescue. Because of the seriousness and complexity of the case, the agency assigned the investigation to its major crimes division.
Investigators served a search warrant May 1 at the rescue’s home and business, seized evidence and had animals on the property examined by Humboldt County Animal Control, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Dogs and cats found at the site remained under daily monitoring while the investigation continued, the agency said.
The affidavit, written by Humboldt County Sheriff’s Detective Julian Aguilera, describes a grim chain of events that began with two women who admitted trespassing onto the Miranda’s Rescue property at night, according to the Lost Coast Outpost, which reviewed the document.
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The women told investigators they dug up dead dogs from what they believed was a mass grave after a motion-activated trail camera allegedly captured Shannon Miranda, who founded the rescue nearly three decades ago, using a tractor to dump carcasses into a hole earlier that day, the affidavit says.
Miranda denied killing and dumping the eight dogs to the authorities. He told investigators he was not truly a no-kill shelter and said he did the best he could with the resources available. He said he typically used a veterinarian to euthanize animals but sometimes shot an animal himself when immediate action was needed to prevent suffering.
Investigators said six of the eight recovered dogs had microchips. One was identified as Zora, a dog transferred less than a month earlier from Oakland Animal Services.
Humboldt County investigators are examining allegations that dogs sent from Bay Area shelters to Miranda’s Rescue were killed and buried.
Oakland’s operations manager told the detective that Zora had been healthy and had no temperament issues when she was sent to Miranda’s Rescue, the affidavit says. But on April 25 a shelter employee received a photo message from Miranda showing Zora on a leash with the message: “Zora adopted.”
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The detective wrote in the police file that he believed Miranda killed the dogs to make room for more animals from Oakland Animal Services, which transferred dogs through a nonprofit affiliate and paid fees for their care.
“[I]t is my belief that Shannon murdered these dogs so that he could accept more from Oakland Animal Services for financial gain,” Aguilera wrote in the affidavit, according to the Lost Coast Outpost.
Oakland Animal Services Director Joe DeVries told the Times-Standard that Oakland halted a planned transfer after learning more from a Solano County volunteer and contacted Humboldt County authorities to assist the investigation.
DeVries said Oakland and Berkeley animal services representatives met with the volunteer April 30 and reviewed evidence that dogs from both shelters had been shot and buried. He said microchips confirmed where the dogs had come from.
“You can’t lie; microchips don’t lie,” DeVries told the Times-Standard.
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Friends of Oakland Animal Services, the nonprofit partner of Oakland Animal Services, later said it was cooperating with the Humboldt County investigation and that there would be no further transfers to Miranda’s Rescue.
The affidavit says Oakland Animal Services transferred 445 animals to Miranda’s Rescue from 2023 through 2025.
At $400 per dog — the low end of the payment range described in the affidavit — the rescue would have generated about $178,000 from Oakland transfers during that period, the affidavit says. It also says Miranda’s Rescue received more than 600 dogs from shelters in the past year and an estimated $510,000 in payments for caring for them.
Other agencies have also moved to cut ties or review transfers.
Fortuna, Ferndale and Rio Dell paused animal services arrangements with Miranda’s Rescue after the investigation became public. Hitchcock Road Animal Services, which serves Monterey County and Salinas, said it had placed Miranda’s Rescue on hold and stopped approving transfers, according to KSBW.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information about Miranda’s Rescue to contact its Major Crimes Division at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip Line at 707-268-2539.