{"id":123,"date":"2026-05-21T16:39:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=123"},"modified":"2026-05-21T16:39:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:39:02","slug":"dogs-sent-from-oakland-to-rescue-shelter-were-killed-some-after-being-reported-adopted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=123","title":{"rendered":"Dogs sent from Oakland to rescue shelter were killed — some after being reported adopted"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This Monday, Oakland Animal Services publicly detailed how it became one of the agencies alerted about potential issues at Miranda\u2019s Rescue in Fortuna. The Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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Joe DeVries, director of Oakland Animal Services, said his agency first heard from Humboldt County officials on Monday, April 27, when a sheriff\u2019s lieutenant asked general questions about Oakland\u2019s transfer relationship with Miranda\u2019s 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\u2019s Rescue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was that research that they shared with us, anecdotal over the phone, that really\u2026shocked us,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cWe immediately halted a planned transfer that week once we heard this information, and then contacted the Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Department to say, well, now that we\u2019ve heard what we\u2019ve heard, you know, we would like to offer anything we can to support any investigation that you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evidence of dogs shot and buried<\/h4>\n

DeVries said he and Berkeley Animal Services met with the volunteer on Thursday, April 30, to review the evidence firsthand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey 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,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cWe knew that they had it right. You can\u2019t lie; microchips don\u2019t lie, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oakland then issued a written demand to Miranda\u2019s Rescue for full records on every dog transferred there since early 2025. DeVries said that Miranda\u2019s Rescue never responded.<\/p>\n

On Friday of that same week, DeVries reached Miranda\u2019s Rescue operator Shannon Miranda by phone and asked about a dozen dogs Oakland had sent in March and April.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn five of those dogs, he told me he had to put them down for various reasons,\u201d DeVries said. \u201cFour 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were under the impression he was using vets,\u201d DeVries said. \u201cHe told me he couldn\u2019t find any vets to do it, so he was doing it himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only one Oakland dog was found<\/h4>\n

Oakland provided Humboldt County investigators with a full list of every dog it had transferred to Miranda\u2019s Rescue. Oakland Animal Services said all dogs that are at the shelter had been microchipped, including dogs that went to the non-profit Miranda\u2019s Rescue in Fortuna.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s records.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhat 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,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cWe just don\u2019t know how many more dogs he told us were adopted out that actually are lying in a grave, and we\u2019re pretty upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

Concerns about a \u2018commercial operation\u2019<\/h4>\n

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\u2019s Rescue was seeking new transfer partnerships with other shelters that week and the following week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does seem more like a commercial operation,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cAt 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\u2019t have the room for the dogs. Don\u2019t tell us you can take dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeVries said the amount of misinformation that was given by Shannon Miranda on the welfare of the dogs is concerning.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe 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,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cIt gives us a very sick feeling in our stomachs that many more of them met death by Shannon\u2019s hands than we were originally told, and had we known that, we wouldn\u2019t have sent them there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Municipal contracts suspended<\/h4>\n

The cities of Rio Dell, Ferndale, and Fortuna have all suspended their contracts with Miranda\u2019s Rescue following the sheriff\u2019s search. Each city had previously paid the rescue to take in stray or impounded animals, as previously reported by the Times-Standard.<\/p>\n

Oakland calls for full investigation, public help<\/h4>\n

DeVries said Oakland Animal Services is now reviewing its transfer protocols to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the other thing, he told me that he was using vets, and we were under the impression that veterinary \u2026 humane euthanasia was the process. He said he couldn\u2019t find any vets to do it, so he\u2019s doing it himself,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cWe\u2019re all pretty shook up about this. We want to make sure the sheriff can do a complete investigation. We know there\u2019s a mass grave on site. All those dogs are microchipped. It would be good to know who adopted an Oakland dog from Miranda\u2019s in the last several months so we can at least know which dogs survived.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hats are off to Humboldt County for taking action. Really appreciate them, and I know that they\u2019ve got their hands full,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cAll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Maranda Vargas can be reached at 707-441-0504.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOn five of those dogs, he told me he had to put them down for various reasons,\u201d Joe DeVries, director of Oakland Animal Services, said. \u201cFour of those five were dogs he had previously told us were adopted. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nDogs sent from Oakland to rescue shelter were killed — some after being reported adopted - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=123\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dogs sent from Oakland to rescue shelter were killed — some after being reported adopted - 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