Advocates Divided on How to Fix California’s Strained Animal Rescue System
Animal advocacy groups are taking their ideas for fixing California’s shelter system to Sacramento, following several high-profile abuse cases throughout the state.
The advocates gathered outside the California State Capitol on Monday to hold back-to-back press conferences, calling for an increase in oversight and transparency in the state’s animal welfare system.
California’s current system lacks any centralized agency for monitoring animal transfers and enforcing state laws, gaps that were recently highlighted by the case of Miranda’s Rescue, a “no-kill” animal sanctuary in Humboldt County.
Its owner, Shannon Miranda, is accused of taking in dogs for profit, then killing them and burying them on his property. More than 700 animals were also recently seized from a southern California rescue, most of them “suffering from severe neglect,” according to an SDHS press release.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s recent investigation into Miranda’s found that the small sanctuary took in more than 900 dogs last year, but investigators could only confirm adoption paperwork for about 100 of them. Two hundred of those dogs came from Oakland Animal Services.
“We did not realize how many animals he was taking in from all these other jurisdictions,” OAS Director Joe DeVries said. “We did not realize that he was at that scale.
“If there were a statewide system, with a couple of clicks of the mouse, you could realize that,” DeVries said.
DeVries supported a proposal from the California Animal Welfare Association, or CalAnimals, to create a bureau within the California Department of Food and Agriculture that would license and inspect shelters and rescues. It would also keep and monitor a database of information about the outcome of animals in the system, and give the public a centralized place to raise concerns.
“It seems like every week we’re getting reports of some sort of rescue that got in over their head,” CalAnimals CEO Jill Tucker said. They’re often started by good-hearted people that wanna save animals, and they’re responding to the pleas for help, and they’re trying to help as many as they can … And then they have too many.”
The idea for the bureau was inspired by Colorado’s 1994 Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act. Tucker said that PACFA is “largely self-sustaining” through licensing fees, and that the goal is to set up a similar model in California.
The other group, Fix Our Shelters, also wants an oversight body, but they worry the bureau will end up being governed by the same people it is supposed to oversee.
“We wanna make sure at the end of the day that it’s an independent body,” Fix Our Shelters President Julie Virga said.
Jenna Moore, a Humboldt County advocate who uncovered evidence that led to the investigation into Miranda’s Rescue, tearfully recounted her experience at the Fix Our Shelters event. She said there’s one sure way to prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future: “The bottom line is spay and neuter. Spay and neuter. Spay and neuter. Spay and neuter.”
Assemblymember Alex Lee introduced a bill that would have required shelters and rescues to keep and regularly publish data about the outcome of animals in their care, which died in committee. The groups now calling for change are hoping to get something introduced in the next legislative session.
Sabrina Woods, an animal advocate from Solano County, attended both events.
“If we can make sure that that’s going to be a fair process with lots of different stakeholders from different areas,” she said, listing vets, animal control and advocates. “Then, it’s gonna be a go.”