For both our organizations, we are devastated by the news coming out of Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna, California. OAS is proud to provide a range of animal welfare services in our city; Friends of Oakland Animal Services’ mission is to provide homes, health, and happiness to Oakland’s animals in need. In pursuing our missions, we supported the transfer of dogs to Miranda’s Rescue, and it is now clear that this decision had heartbreaking consequences. We deeply regret our role in those transfers and are committed to transparency, accountability, and learning from this tragedy.
Please see the FAQs below for additional information.
Q: What’s the latest news about the situation at Miranda’s?
A: The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department is continuing to conduct its investigation into allegations of animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud and conspiracy. OAS played a strong role in urging the county sheriff to pursue this investigation. Meanwhile, Humboldt County Animal Control Officers are monitoring the health and safety of all animals currently at Miranda’s on a regular basis.
Here are several recent articles from various news outlets, giving details and including extensive quotes from OAS Director Joe DeVries:
- Shelters say chipped, reportedly rehomed animals shot dead at Miranda’s Rescue
- Miranda’s Rescue Search Warrant Reveals Eight Dead Dogs Have Been Recovered; Sheriff’s Investigator Believes Miranda Killed Them for Financial Gain | Lost Coast Outpost | Humboldt County News.
- Bay Area Dogs Found Dead at Humboldt County ‘No-Kill’ Rescue | KQED
Q: Why did we send so many dogs to Miranda’s, and why did that require a fee?
A: We are not able to place all the dogs that come into our shelter through adoption, so we rely on transfer partner rescues to help us save lives. Miranda’s was willing to accept large dogs, which are sometimes hard to place. For us and for other organizations, Miranda’s charged a fee to accept these animals. They told us that this was necessary to cover costs of housing, feeding and caring for them. Their stay at Miranda’s was understood to be longer than the timeframe for easier-to-place dogs we transfer to other partners.
In retrospect, we understand that sending dogs to Miranda’s was a terrible mistake. We believed we were giving these dogs who faced the possibility of being euthanized a chance at a positive outcome. When we are faced with difficult decisions regarding animals in our care, we gravitate toward hopeful solutions to extend their lives. In this case, we were wrong, and the reality of what happened is devastating. We, along with many other organizations, wanted to believe these dogs were getting the second chance they deserved. As it turns out, Miranda’s was actively deceiving us, telling us that dogs had been adopted when in fact some of them hadn’t.
Q: What do we know about animals we sent to Miranda’s?
A: All dogs currently living at Miranda’s have been scanned, and only one of them is from OAS. We have seen evidence that at least five dogs who had been reported as adopted were subsequently killed there. For the many dogs we have sent there over the past four years, we will seek to get access to whatever records and other information we can in order to verify whether they were actually adopted out. Tragically, it is likely that we won’t be able to determine the fate of many OAS dogs.
Q: What about the one dog (Redwood) who is still there?
A: OAS is making every effort to get Redwood back to Oakland. We are hopeful that Humboldt County will take possession of Redwood, and then we can proceed from there.
Q: How does OAS vet their rescue partners? How was Miranda’s Rescue vetted?
A: Before we transfer animals to rescue partners, FOAS and OAS staff check with local animal control and with other California organizations that have transferred animals there. As we work with a rescue partner, we observe their operations and communications on an ongoing basis. When we followed this process with Miranda’s, we received positive feedback regarding their reputation and care of the animals. Staff and volunteers who made transports to Miranda’s over the past several years shared positive feedback, having observed animal care and interacted with their staff. None observed any animal mistreatment.
Given recent allegations, FOAS is now working with OAS to review vetting processes for the 36+ rescue operations the shelter partners with. We are rewriting our transfer partner agreements using best practices from shelters across California and in consultation with our legal team to provide greater transparency. In the world of animal rescue, it is not customary to require them to provide outcome information, but we will look at what’s possible. We want accountability, though it would be detrimental to create requirements that are so onerous that we’d end up losing all our rescue partners.
Q: How many dogs did OAS send to Miranda’s?
A: OAS sent a total of 827 dogs to Miranda’s since 2020, which is 13.5% of the dogs we transferred to rescue partners during that period. FOAS paid fees totaling $376,000. Some of these funds came from FOAS’ general budget, and some came from donors who wanted specifically to support what we all saw as a lifesaving effort.
Q: What are FOAS/OAS’ plans going forward for the shelter’s at-risk dogs?
A: OAS and FOAS will continue to work with our current rescue partners, find new rescue partners, and leverage all available channels to find adopters and/or fosters for these animals.
Q: In addition to the criminal investigation being conducted in Humboldt County, are we considering taking civil action against Miranda’s?
A: We will consider this option carefully in consultation with legal counsel.
Q: Can we come together as a community to process our grief and anger about what has happened?
A: This is a time when we all need community support. A committee of volunteers is planning a memorial for the dogs we lost or whose fate we may never fully know. Please keep an eye out for messages via email, social media, volunteer boards, and our website for additional information and updates regarding this event.