\n<\/p>\n
FORTUNA, Calif. — <\/span>The remains of at least 117 dogs were found on the grounds of a California \u201cno-kill\u201c animal shelter, many of them with gunshot wounds, authorities said.<\/p>\n The Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office said Friday that it also discovered 21 canine skulls, hundreds of bones and other remains during searches at Miranda\u2019s Rescue Animal Sanctuary, a 50-acre (20-hectare) facility in Fortuna, California.<\/p>\n Investigators combing the site on Thursday located an area in a barn where they believe dogs were likely killed, the sheriff\u2019s office said. More than 600 dog collars were found nearby, the office said.<\/p>\n Sheriff William Honsal called it a \u201chorrific scene.\u201d No charges have been filed.<\/p>\n A message seeking comment was left for the shelter\u2019s founder, Shannon Miranda.<\/p>\n In a statement posted to the shelter\u2019s website on June 18, Miranda said that recent media coverage and online commentary \u201chave presented an incomplete and, in some cases, inaccurate picture of our work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt Miranda\u2019s Rescue, our mission is to save as many animals as we safely can\u2014always balancing compassion for animals with our responsibility to protect families, children, other pets, and the public,\u201d Miranda wrote.<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s office said it started investigating the shelter after receiving \u201ccredible information\u201d in April \u201cregarding allegations of felony animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud, and conspiracy.\u201d<\/p>\n Miranda\u2019s Rescue collects fees from shelter transfers, as well as donations that it says helps cover the costs of food, housing, veterinary care, medications, facility expenses and staffing.<\/p>\n An affidavit from an earlier search of the property said that the sheriff\u2019s office was tipped off by a pair of animal advocates, one of whom owns property adjoining the shelter and used trail cameras to monitor activity near an alleged burial site.<\/p>\n The advocates later went onto shelter property and dug up dog remains, the affidavit said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis investigation is just getting started,\u201d Honsal said in a statement. \u201cThere is a tremendous amount of data to process, witnesses to interview, and evidence to examine.\u201d<\/p>\n Investigators using ground-penetrating radar found 117 intact remains in various stages of decomposition buried in an open field, the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n They X-rayed 70 of the remains on site and found evidence of bullet fragments in many of them. The cause of death for many of those animals appeared to be gunshot wounds, the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n Investigators also found additional remains in advanced stages of decomposition, the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s office said hundreds of dogs were transferred or turned over to Miranda\u2019s Rescue by private citizens and animal shelters.<\/p>\n In his statement, Miranda said, \u201cMiranda\u2019s Rescue is a no-kill rescue. We do not euthanize animals simply to make space.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Miranda wrote, \u201dthere are rare circumstances in which euthanasia may be necessary \u2014 when an animal is suffering from a terminal condition or when it poses a serious, ongoing danger to people or other animals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn those situations, we make the most humane and responsible decision we can, always with public safety and animal welfare in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n