‘Sadness and anger’: Northern California animal rescue accused of killing dogs for profit
Miranda’s Rescue in Humboldt County markets itself as a no-kill shelter, but Oakland Animal Services says several of its dogs never made it out alive.
A Northern California dog rescue that promised second chances is now accused of killing dogs for profit. Velena Jones reports.
A Northern California animal rescue that promised second chances is now accused of killing dogs for profit.
Miranda’s Rescue in Humboldt County markets itself as a no-kill shelter, but Oakland Animal Services Director Joe DeVries said several of their dogs never made it out alive.
WATCH HERE“[Miranda’s Rescue owner Shannon Miranda] represented hope, and to have that hope dashed and to see that he was actually making money, taking more and more dogs and killing them, it’s just sadness and anger,” DeVries said.
DeVries said Oakland Animal Services received at least one photo showing a dog from the shelter dead. They were able to confirm through microchips that it was one of their dogs, Zora. She was among eight dogs found shot and buried on the property, despite the rescue claiming she was adopted. When DeVries questioned the rescue’s owner about a dozen dogs Oakland had recently sent there, DeVries said the stories didn’t match.
“Five of them he said he had to put down, and out of those five, four of them told my shelter transfer cordinator they had been adopted out,” DeVries said.
Investigators recently executed a search warrant at Miranda’s Rescue after two women shared video evidence of the rescue allegedly killing dogs and then burying them on their property.
Oakland Animal Services sent more dogs to Miranda’s Rescue than any other Bay Area shelter – more than 800 since 2020.
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“We sent 205 dogs up there,” DeVries said. “They represented about 13% of our transfers because they had good numbers, because they were telling us they were getting adopted, and clearly they weren’t.”
Investigators are looking into allegations the rescue took in dogs for hundreds of dollars in transfer fees.
The rescue did not respond to NBC Bay Area’s request for comment.
Jennifer Raymond and a friend discovered the dogs’ bodies. Raymond spoke with the NBC affiliate in Redding about the discovery.
“We got a video of Shannon Miranda on his tractor with a load of hay in the bucket, and as he dumped it, you could see the bodies appear,” Raymond said.
Raymond grew suspicious of the rescue back in 2001. Last year, she bought a house next to the property to investigate more closely.
“What we discovered was so hideous, to look at a 3-month-old puppy with a bullet hole in its head,” she said. “You have to be a monster to do something like that.”
According to The East Bay Times, more than 1,200 dogs from Bay Area shelters were sent to Miranda’s Rescue over the last five years. Oakland immediately stopped transfers to the rescue and is now tightening transfer rules. It said it even tried to get back its last remaining dog still in the rescue’s care, but they refused.
“We would like to see every law on the book used to hold him accountable,” DeVries said.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating what it calls credible allegations of felony animal abuse, fraud and conspiracy. As of Thursday, no arrests had been made.