Rescue gone wrong:
Shannon Miranda, Mirandas Rescue (No Cal)
Sixty four faces - alive or dead?
These are the faces of sixty four pit bulls whose fate is unknown having been sent to MURDERING Mirandas Rescue. Majority of the dogs you see below sent to Miranda rescue between 2012 and 2013. Shannon Miranda is a fraud, and having marketed himself as a “sanctuary” now admits, in writing, to his policy to euthanize animals he deems “unadoptable”. In many cases he has refused to provide proof of adoption; we may never know which animals had a happy ending, or tragic and untimely death.
After reports of many missing pitbulls that had been sent to Mirandas rescue in Fortuna, No Cal, whereby Shannon Miranda failed to provide proof of adoption (e.g. adoption photos), and admitted to the death of 2 pitbulls (with stories with ‘holes’ in), suspicions were aroused. Shannon Miranda had been charging an average of $500 per pitbull in order to take a dog into his self proclaimed “sanctuary”, including many dog and / or human aggressive pits, where he alleged they would be rehabilitated via training, and if not adopted would remain at the sanctuary the rest of their lives.
Prior to October 2013, Mirandas’ website stated: “As a no-kill facility, we do not euthanize animals to make room for new intakes. Any animal that is deemed adoptable will live at the sanctuary until a loving and permanent home is found”. However, in October 2013 he changed his website stating his policy to euthanize animals “terminally ill or considered dangerous”. He has since changed it again stating “We reserve humane euthanasia for terminally ill animals and animals that are deemed unadoptable that are considered dangerous.” This speaks for itself.
When suspicions were raised publically about the volume of pit bulls Miranda was taking in without being able to prove adoption, Miranda started to return dogs that he deemed unadoptable / aggressive to the people that had sent the dogs to him. 4 of these dogs were examined by Katella animal clinic, and 3 of them were sick (with Giardia, a Upper Respiratory Infection, and ear infection). This calls into question the standard of care the animals are getting at Mirandas.
Left: Dogs returned to Paul Duff, of ROMP Rescue, that Miranda failed to successfully train.
Right: The 4 escapees found new rescues and 3 out of the 4 were adopted within 3 months of leaving Mirandas (clearly they were all horribly aggressive and unadoptable ahem!!).
Below: A letter issued to Shannon Miranda asking for the return of the $2,800 paid to Mirandas for 5 dogs that were returned to the people that sent the dogs to him (at his request, having deemed them "unadoptable").
At a typical $500 fee per dog, Shannon Miranda has earned an estimated $25,000 from taking in the 50 pit bulls pictured, and these are just the ones we know about. He took many of these dogs in in the knowledge that they were aggressive, promising them training and rehabilitation. Yet now admits in writing his policy to euthanize aggressive dogs!! In addition, in May 2013 the day after being challenged to provide adoption proof, Miranda claimed to have been broken into and his adoption paperwork stolen, what a coincidence!! Note that when the 4 escapees were recovered from Mirandas (3 of whom were in residence at Mirandas prior to May 23 the date of the alleged theft), all of their paperwork was in tact. Shannon Miranda, you are a fraud and have misled donators, animal advocates, and the public.
There are other allegations relating to the harm of animals following an investigation via Private Investigator which we are not yet able to share publically, due to this information being submitted to the authorities. However other publically available information relating to wrongdoing by Shannon Miranda can be read about below.
Bottom line, animals at Mirandas Rescue are NOT safe; if for any reason Miranda deems them to be “unadoptable”, they risk euthanization. We implore Shannon Miranda to finally do the decent and honest thing, and admit which of these 50 dogs have been euthanized.
Criminal record
As reported by Marianna Mullins:
Why does Shannon Miranda stop short when telling his history? Shannon Miranda likes to begin the story of his life in 1993/94 when he claims he injured his back/neck, became wheelchair bound and overcame his disabilities to become an animal advocate. Ever wonder what he was doing just one year before that? How about embezzling thousands of dollars from his employer, being arrested and charged with a felony (Humboldt County Superior Court - Case No. E-80998, date of violation 06/11/1992 for felony PC 508)! Yes, Shannon Miranda who can do no wrong in so many people's eyes pleaded "no contest" and was sentenced to 1 year in jail, 5 years probation and forced to pay thousands of dollars in restitution. Do you think just maybe he still steals and commits fraud? Why don't you ask the dozens and dozens of people we've contacted who have had to pay Shannon Miranda $500 to $700 CASH to take and rehab their dogs only to have the dogs disappear and fake photos provided to them. Yes, we are getting close to going to the authorities but we are operating on our time table, not Shannon's.
39 euthanizations at the vets in one visit
Click here for invoice for the vetting of 52 animals of which 39 were euthanized as instructed by Mirandas Rescue (of which 38 were cats).
Family of pitbulls surrendered on Mirandas property; Mirandas adopted out the pups and dumped the mother in the local shelter
A family of pitbulls were recently surrendered on Mirandas Rescue's property. The rescue kept the pups and adopted them out, however surrendered the mother to a local shelter. It wasn't until the rescue was named publicly four days after the stray hold was up that the rescue went to get the mother back from the shelter. Numerous conflicting excuses were used for her being dumped there in the first place.
Lies about Government funding
Despite claims on their website that they receive no Government funding, Mirandas Rescue in fact DOES receive funding from the Goverment, and there is evidence that Shannon has sought to exploit this arrangement to the detriment of the taxpayer.
As reported by Marianna Mullins:
The link below will take you to the City of Rio Dell meeting records of 11/8/12. If you go to page 39 you will read how Shannon wanted to raise his monthly billing to the City of Rio Dell to $2,500, or $30,000 a year just to take in 38 dogs and 27 cats or $461.54 per animal to a community of just 3,400 people! Miranda had stated he took in 115 dogs but the police records which are also shown reveal every dog brought into Miranda Rescue and 38 dogs were brought to Miranda NOT 115. http://www.riodelltimes.com/CityCouncilRioDellCalifornia/11.8.12Agenda/11.8.12AgendaPacket.pdf
Check this out, the link below shows the City of Ferndale had to pay ONLY $450 a month to Shannon for their animal control. This shows exactly how much he was trying to rip off the City of Rio Dell by charging them $2,500 to take in just 5.4 animals per month. If you look up both cities you'll see Rio Dell is only twice the size of Ferndale yet he wanted to charge Rio Dell almost 6x as much per month.
http://ci.ferndale.ca.us/pdf/130502-CouncilPacket.pdf
Prince given no training and returned from Mirandas in apalling condition
This is Prince; Marianna Mullins sent him to Mirandas rescue for rehabilitation (Prince was shot and beaten by gang members in Bakersfield and showed aggression towards men). Marianna picked him up on May 5. Prince had received NO TRAINING at Mirandas, despite the $500 fee Miranda charged Marianna for this. However, Prince was returned with a skin infection, 4 broken teeth that had to be removed, a chewed up tail and yellow diarrhea. Prince subsequently spent 3 months with a local board and train facility and has been back with Marianna since August 29.
A picture speaks a thousand words:
Left: Prince at Mirandas Rescue.
Right: Prince after his training arranged by Marianna Mullins.
Shannon Miranda has been abusing the trust of the public, by callously causing harm to the animals he claims to protect. We are close to concluding the investigation and submitting all evidence to the relevant authorities; further witnesses have come forward, and need to be interviewed by the Private Investigator (including people from reputable local rescues). Please donate towards the PI's fees if you can, to help to bring this man to justice.
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