This Monday, Oakland Animal Services publicly detailed how it became one of the agencies alerted about potential issues at Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office had contacted Oakland Animal Services at the beginning of the investigation and confirmed that multiple transferred dogs were euthanized without disclosure and, in some cases, after the rescue had reported them as adopted.
Read more Bay FC can’t solve Thorns’ defense, lose in Portland
Joe DeVries, director of Oakland Animal Services, said his agency first heard from Humboldt County officials on Monday, April 27, when a sheriff’s lieutenant asked general questions about Oakland’s transfer relationship with Miranda’s Rescue, saying they were looking at some evidence and considering an investigation. The situation escalated the next day, when a Solano County volunteer contacted Oakland Animal Services with more information about Miranda’s Rescue.
“It was that research that they shared with us, anecdotal over the phone, that really…shocked us,” said DeVries. “We immediately halted a planned transfer that week once we heard this information, and then contacted the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department to say, well, now that we’ve heard what we’ve heard, you know, we would like to offer anything we can to support any investigation that you can do.”
Evidence of dogs shot and buried
DeVries said he and Berkeley Animal Services met with the volunteer on Thursday, April 30, to review the evidence firsthand.
“They provided us evidence of a dog that we had transferred there that we had been told was adopted out when it had actually been shot in the head and put in a mass grave, and the same was true of a Berkeley dog, so they verified the microchip information,” said DeVries. “We knew that they had it right. You can’t lie; microchips don’t lie, you know.”
Oakland then issued a written demand to Miranda’s Rescue for full records on every dog transferred there since early 2025. DeVries said that Miranda’s Rescue never responded.
On Friday of that same week, DeVries reached Miranda’s Rescue operator Shannon Miranda by phone and asked about a dozen dogs Oakland had sent in March and April.
“On five of those dogs, he told me he had to put them down for various reasons,” DeVries said. “Four of those five were dogs he had previously told us were adopted. We have text messages saying these dogs were adopted, and then he told me they were put down.”
DeVries said Miranda did not specify the method of euthanasia during that call, but Oakland had already reviewed evidence showing dogs on the property had been shot in the head.
“We were under the impression he was using vets,” DeVries said. “He told me he couldn’t find any vets to do it, so he was doing it himself.”
Only one Oakland dog was found
Oakland provided Humboldt County investigators with a full list of every dog it had transferred to Miranda’s Rescue. Oakland Animal Services said all dogs that are at the shelter had been microchipped, including dogs that went to the non-profit Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna.
Last Friday, Humboldt County Animal Control told Oakland that only one of the dogs, a dog named Redwood, transferred in October, was still alive on the property. The Oakland Animal Services has requested that Redwood be returned to them. Investigators reported finding 112 dogs on the property during the search warrant. Only one matched Oakland’s records.
Read more Waymo rolls its driverless car service deeper into the South Bay
“What that means is all the other dogs that we sent in April and March, and really, whenever you know, are no longer on the property or alive,” said DeVries. “We just don’t know how many more dogs he told us were adopted out that actually are lying in a grave, and we’re pretty upset.”
Concerns about a ‘commercial operation’
DeVries said the timeline raised additional concerns. While Miranda was telling Oakland he was overwhelmed with difficult dogs, DeVries said he received calls from other counties performing reference checks because Miranda’s Rescue was seeking new transfer partnerships with other shelters that week and the following week.
“It does seem more like a commercial operation,” said DeVries. “At the same time he appears to have been quickly euthanizing dogs to make more space and complaining about some of these dogs being tough, he was seeking more, which leads me to believe it became more of a commercial endeavor. If you don’t have the room for the dogs. Don’t tell us you can take dogs.”
DeVries said the amount of misinformation that was given by Shannon Miranda on the welfare of the dogs is concerning.
“He told us that dogs were being adopted out and led us to believe that there was a positive outcome, and appears to have been completely misinforming us on at least four or five dogs, one that we have physical evidence of, the other four he just told us,” said DeVries. “It gives us a very sick feeling in our stomachs that many more of them met death by Shannon’s hands than we were originally told, and had we known that, we wouldn’t have sent them there.”
Municipal contracts suspended
The cities of Rio Dell, Ferndale, and Fortuna have all suspended their contracts with Miranda’s Rescue following the sheriff’s search. Each city had previously paid the rescue to take in stray or impounded animals, as previously reported by the Times-Standard.
Oakland calls for full investigation, public help
DeVries said Oakland Animal Services is now reviewing its transfer protocols to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
“That’s the other thing, he told me that he was using vets, and we were under the impression that veterinary … humane euthanasia was the process. He said he couldn’t find any vets to do it, so he’s doing it himself,” said DeVries. “We’re all pretty shook up about this. We want to make sure the sheriff can do a complete investigation. We know there’s a mass grave on site. All those dogs are microchipped. It would be good to know who adopted an Oakland dog from Miranda’s in the last several months so we can at least know which dogs survived.”
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) did not respond before this article went to print. HCSO has not yet released an official statement on the findings of the investigation, nor has it confirmed the number of animals recovered from the property or the conditions of the remains.
“Our hats are off to Humboldt County for taking action. Really appreciate them, and I know that they’ve got their hands full,” said DeVries. “All shelters are always at capacity, and their capacity just got really challenged, and so we want to just be patient and support their efforts, whatever it takes.”
Read more Los Gatos: David Kinch’s Aptos restaurant expanding to the North 40
Maranda Vargas can be reached at 707-441-0504.
About the Author
