CALIFORNIA — Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said investigators uncovered the remains of at least two animals Tuesday as a multi‑agency search warrant unfolded at Miranda’s Rescue, the first public confirmation of what authorities believe might be a large‑scale animal cruelty and fraud case.
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Honsal said Tuesday during a news conference that investigators have located the remains of a horse and a smaller animal during the first day of excavation at the shelter in the city of Fortuna, where deputies and federal agents are executing a search warrant tied to allegations of fraud and large‑scale animal cruelty.
“The goal of the search warrant, and ordered by the judge, is to excavate several areas in the property where we believe have deceased animals,” said Honsal. “Also, we are here looking for financial records, adoption records, business records, as well as other fruits to the crime of fraud and animal cruelty.”
Speaking at the driveway entrance to Shannon Miranda’s property, Honsal told reporters and community members that ground‑penetrating instruments identified “several anomalies” in the soil, prompting investigators to begin digging in multiple marked locations.
“We started excavating in one hole, we found a horse, and in another hole we found what appears to be a dead animal. At this point in time, we don’t know what that animal is, it’s a small animal, the size of a dog,” said Honsal. “… The idea is, once we identify the animal in the hole, then we will have our forensic veterinarians take that animal out and do, essentially, an autopsy at the scene, trying to determine potential cause of death and any evidence that’s associated with that animal. We have chip readers on site, so the goal is to identify the animals as quickly as we can.”
Both the horse and the unidentified small animal will undergo field autopsies by forensic veterinarians before being placed in a refrigerated evidence storage truck that is at the Miranda’s Rescue investigation site.
“The Animal Welfare Act is a federal law, and there’s specific regulations in the Animal Welfare Act that the USDA is very interested in, and that’s why they are here. That’s why the US Attorney’s Office is involved. There’s also the Crush Act as a part of the federal government, and so those are federal laws that the FBI and the USDA are here looking at, and they’re interested in,” said Honsal. “Then we have our state attorney general is interested in the state, local charges related to animal cruelty, related to fraud, theft, those kind of things, and so those are the cases that we’re looking at. It’s different laws, and that’s why we’re here with so many investigators doing what we do.”
The search warrant, served early Tuesday, authorizes investigators to excavate suspected burial sites and seize financial, adoption and business records.
“We plan on being here for today and through the next several days, and we will be done when we believe that all evidence is seized from this location,” said Honsal. “This is a very complex investigation that many of you understand. It started on May 1. It involved allegations of animal cruelty, where representatives from Miranda’s Rescue have appealed to different shelters throughout the state and locally, of being a sanctuary for.”
Honsal said no arrests have been made and the operator of the rescue, Shannon Miranda, is legally allowed to continue running the sanctuary because California does not license or regulate private rescues.
“Our records indicate through interviewing several shelters throughout the state that Miranda’s Rescue, from 2025 January until April, May of this year, received over 900 animals from these shelters,” said Honsal. “We were able to account for only 100 or so that have been adopted, we have 730 animals that are unaccounted for, and that’s part of the reason why we are here today.”
About 50 dogs, along with cats and birds, remain on site. County animal control officers and a veterinarian are monitoring them three times a week. A few underweight dogs were identified and are improving with additional care.
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“This is a fraud investigation as well as an animal cruelty investigation,” said Honsal. “We are not a rush‑to‑judgment agency. We are looking at all sides.”
Reporters pressed Honsal on past complaints about the rescue and whether earlier intervention could have prevented the current investigation. He said the department is reviewing prior cases and will conduct an after‑action review once the current investigation concludes.
“As far as the previous investigation, time will tell. We are looking into those previous cases to see what was investigated. How it was investigated to see if we did not do our job enough, and and then when this investigation is complete, then we’re able to do an after-action to see how we could do better next time on any of those things,” said Honsal. “The fact is, we are here now. We are here working this case. We have two detectives and a sergeant on this investigation, and we have reached out to multiple agencies throughout the state, and including the state and federal government to help us with this case, and so we’re happy with with the current state of the investigation, and we are going to continue. This is going to be a long road, right? When you talk about 700 missing animals, you know there’s a lot that goes through with that, and a lot of information that needs to be found and discovered.”
Investigators using ground‑penetrating radar that reaches 12 feet below ground for its imaging capabilities and they have identified multiple soil anomalies on the property, areas where the normally uniform, sandy soil showed signs of deep disturbance. Those flagged spots are now being excavated as potential burial sites.
“We have, again, we have 700 unidentified dogs that we don’t know where they are,” said Honsal. “So we are thinking worst-case scenario, and we are here to look and uncover whatever evidence that we could possibly find.”
Sheriff Honsal said the team is preparing for a worst‑case scenario, given that more than 700 dogs remain unaccounted for, and brought in a refrigerated truck and additional equipment based on what they uncovered today and expect to find in the coming days.
“We seized more documents and other business records, tax records, as well as evidence from some of the out structures,” said Honsal.
Excavation is expected to continue for several days. Honsel spoke of the need for spay-and-neuter clinics to control the pet population.
“There’s still animals that can be adopted, so if anyone is interested in adopting an animal, still come here and adopt it,” Honsal said. “There is an overpopulation of animals here in the state, and the state has ignored this issue for many, many years, and so that is something that needs to be addressed on the state level.”
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information relating to the investigation to contact the office at 707-445‑7251.
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Maranda Vargas can be reached at 707-441-0504.