UPDATE, 4:08 p.m.: Fortuna resident Jenna Moore, one of the two women who spearheaded this investigation, reports from the scene that there have now been as many as 50 dog carcasses recovered from the property today alone. The Outpost has not independently verified that amount.

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Original post:

Sheriff’s investigators haul away one of the dog carcasses recovered from Miranda’s Rescue on Wednesday. | Photos by Ryan Burns.

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WARNING: This story includes photos and descriptions that readers may find disturbing.

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More than a dozen dog carcasses in various states of decomposition have been unearthed from a field at Fortuna animal sanctuary Miranda’s Rescue over the past two days as investigators continue their multi-agency criminal investigation into allegations of fraud, theft and animal cruelty by the facility’s owner/operator, Shannon Miranda.

Another dead dog is placed onto a tarp at the scene.

Men and women with shovels — some wearing Sheriff’s Office uniforms — pulled the limp animal bodies out of large, tractor-dug holes in the ground and placed them onto tarps, where other personnel jotted notes and snapped photos. The carcasses were quickly bagged up and hauled on litters to a sheltered inspection area nearby.

“It stinks to high heaven,” said neighbor Jennifer Raymond, one of two women (along with fellow Fortuna resident Jenna Moore) who spearheaded this investigation with their own detective work. 

Raymond estimates she saw close to 15 dogs dug out of the ground on Tuesday, though others interviewed by the Outpost this afternoon say they only saw about five. By 1 p.m. today, at least eight more had been recovered, and investigators were still digging.

Erin Inskip, a public information specialist with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed that multiple carcasses in various stages of decay have been recovered, though she said the agency won’t release a tally of the dead dogs until the end of the week.

At a press briefing yesterday, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said 731 of the more than 900 dogs sent to Miranda’s Rescue since the start of 2025 remain unaccounted for.

An investigator holds a microchip reader as she covers one of the dead dogs.

Investigators on scene include personnel from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office’s Major Crimes Unit as well as the FBI, U.S. Attorney’s Office, California Department of Justice and more. They are executing the second search warrant for the property since the investigation was launched in late April. 

Honsal said that, in addition to the excavation work, law enforcement is searching for financial records and adoption paperwork that could potentially offer insight into the alleged financial crimes. For years, Miranda’s Rescue has been accepting dogs from shelters across the state and beyond, typically collecting fees of $500 to several thousand dollars per animal. 

Neighbors said they’ve seen Miranda himself on the property today and yesterday, often accompanied by sheriff’s deputies or other law enforcement personnel.

A North Coast Journal story published last week reports that Miranda was appalled by allegations of a mass grave on his property and quotes him saying, “There’s no mass grave.”

Late last week, a message attributed to Miranda was posted on the homepage of the Miranda’s Rescue website. The statement reasserts his longstanding claim that he operates a “no-kill rescue,” where an animal will only be euthanized when it “is suffering from a terminal condition or when it poses a serious, ongoing danger to people or other animals.”

The statement goes on to say, “Whenever euthanasia has been necessary, I have notified local authorities in advance, even when told that reporting is not required. I believe it is important to maintain a clear record of these difficult decisions.”

Four days after that statement was published, law enforcement executed the second search warrant of Miranda’s property and Honsal announced that more than 700 of the dogs he once housed have disappeared. 

Today, it appears, a few more of them have been found.

Search crews dig in two spots at Miranda’s Rescue.

Sheriff’s investigators lift a bagged dog carcass.

A shovel-full of dirt flies out of a large hole in the ground as the search continues.

A pop-up tent stands next to the Sheriff’s Office Mobile Command Center near the site of the digs. In the background, a large excavator can be seen.



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