Local, state and federal agencies are searching the property of Miranda’s Rescue amid allegations of fraud and animal cruelty at the Fortuna sanctuary.
The investigation comes after local residents entered the property and dug up dead dogs they said appeared to have been shot. They allege owner Shannon Miranda killed animals that had been sent to the sanctuary for adoption. Miranda has not been charged with a crime.
At a news conference Tuesday, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said the goal of the search warrant is to obtain financial and adoption records as well as excavate areas on the 50-acre property where authorities believe dead animals are located.
Records show that shelters have sent more than 800 animals to Miranda’s Rescue this year, Honsal said.
“We were able to account for only 100 or so [dogs] that have been adopted,” he said. “We have 730 animals that are unaccounted for.”
Honsal said the sanctuary charged thousands of dollars to accept an animal and shelters from as far away as Hawaii have sent dogs there.
Investigators are using ground-penetrating radar to find potential burial sites. Officers said they have so far found a buried horse and another unidentified animal the size of a dog.
“Tomorrow we're going to have an X-ray machine here looking for any signs of cause of death, as well as looking at the chips,” he said. “Every animal we uncover is going to be documented.”
Agencies involved in the investigation include the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, the California Attorney General’s Office, the California Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the FBI. The USDA, which enforces federal animal welfare laws, has provided forensic veterinarians.
About 50 animals remain at the sanctuary. Honsal said authorities cannot remove those animals unless charges are filed.
“It's an unregulated sanctuary,” Honsal said. “There is no license, so the state can't simply revoke a license and say you can no longer be a sanctuary.”
He also said that killing an animal humanely is not illegal.
“It's going to be up to the investigators to prove that the animal was killed in a cruel and inhumane way,” Honsal said.
The sheriff’s office first served a search warrant at Miranda’s Rescue on May 1. Since then, investigators have interviewed dozens of shelters that sent animals to the sanctuary.
