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Hold Private Shelters To Their Promise To Care For Pets
Final signature count: 12,077
12,077 signatures toward our 30,000 goal
Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site
When public shelters transfer pets to private rescues, those animals should not vanish from public accountability.
Animal rescues can save lives. Public shelters often rely on private rescues and sanctuaries to take in dogs, cats, and other animals that need more time, medical care, behavioral support, or placement help. But once an animal leaves a public shelter, California does not have a strong statewide system requiring every private rescue to report what happened next.
The investigation into Miranda’s Rescue in Fortuna, California, shows why that gap can be devastating. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said it began investigating Miranda’s Rescue in April 2026 after receiving credible information about alleged felony animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud, and conspiracy.1
Investigators recovered 117 intact canine remains from two dig sites, as well as 21 canine skulls, hundreds of bones, and six loose microchips in another nearby dig location.2
Hundreds Of Animals Remain Unaccounted For
Officials said 70 of the recovered dogs were X-rayed on site and that many showed evidence of bullet fragments. USDA and forensic veterinarians preliminarily determined the cause of death for many examined animals to be gunshot wounds. Most of the recovered dogs were microchipped, and analysts are working to identify them.2
More than 600 dog collars were found near a barn investigators believed may have been where dogs were killed.3 The case remains an active investigation, not a conviction. But the scale of the findings raises an urgent policy question: why should hundreds of shelter-transfer animals be able to become unaccounted for before state oversight intervenes?
Sheriff William Honsal said investigators had identified more than 900 animals transferred to Miranda’s Rescue since January 2025, but had confirmed only 116 adoptions, leaving more than 700 animals unaccounted for.4
California Needs Rescue Oversight Before More Animals Vanish
California already recognizes that charity oversight matters. The California Attorney General regulates charities and professional fundraisers to protect charitable assets and prevent donations from being misapplied or squandered through fraud.5 But charity filings are not the same as animal welfare oversight.
California also considered AB 631, a shelter transparency bill that would have required shelters to collect and publish intake, source, and outcome data for animals, including whether animals were adopted, transferred, euthanized, died in care, or were returned to owners. The bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2025.6
That kind of transparency should be strengthened and expanded. Private rescues that accept public shelter transfers should be licensed, inspected, and required to report outcomes for every animal. Public shelters should be required to use written transfer agreements, verify rescue standing, reconcile microchips, and suspend transfers to any rescue that fails to account for animals.
A “rescue” label should never be enough to remove pets from public accountability.
Sign now to urge California leaders to require oversight, inspections, and outcome reporting for private animal rescues.
