By Jacqueline Zuniga

Angry protesters stood outside the Humboldt County Courthouse Oct. 3 following last week’s action, calling for Humboldt County officials to remove remaining animals from Miranda’s Rescue. Founder Shannon Miranda posted a statement on his website on Oct. 2, stating that the rescue was temporarily closed while it updates its operating permits. 

The conditional use permit and coastal development permit were suspended on Oct. 1 because the rescue failed to meet the terms of a compliance agreement with Planning and Building. A county letter from Planning and Building quoted by the Lost Coast Outpost said that Miranda failed to submit the grading permit required to deposit enough dirt to raise dog kennels at least a foot above flood elevations. The letter offered county assistance with relocating the remaining animals. 

Marianna Mullins, a protestor at the courthouse and an independent Sacramento animal rescuer, has been raising concerns since May 2013. She first went to social media to voice her concerns. She later hired a private investigator and they both interviewed witnesses in 2013 and 2014. They alleged that dogs were being shot and buried under the radar. She acknowledged that the investigation lacked physical evidence at the time.

“I told Shannon in 2013 that it didn’t matter how long it took, the truth would come to light,” Mullins said. “Now it’s here, but at what cost? How many lives were lost? How many people are devastated? And how broken is the community?”

Mullins continued documenting her concerns through a Facebook page established in Jan. 2014 called Truth Behind the Lies Miranda’s Rescue 2013. She said she received a cease-and-desist letter that year.

“I wasn’t believed,” Mullins said. “The community was convinced that I was vindictive and that I was a liar.”

Mullins said stories were written about her by the Lost Coast Outpost that said she was running a “smear campaign,” but 12 years later those stories have been corrected and the publication has apologized. More recent discoveries of mass dog graves appeared to support concerns she could not prove in 2013.

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Hilary Mosher, a protester at the courthouse said she was advocating for the animals and families who couldn’t be there.

“We want Shannon Miranda stopped, we want him to lose his 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, because he’s in violation of his mission,” Mosher said. “This mission, according to the Attorney General’s Office of charitable organizations, is to have a no-kill shelter where animals are adopted, and he is doing almost the opposite of that.” 

A 501(c)(3) organization is a U.S. nonprofit organization that is recognized by the IRS to be federally tax-exempt and eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. 

Rick Kircher, another protester at the courthouse, stated that in 2003 a conditional use permit was written for the shelter and contained eight requirements — five of which remained incomplete in 2026. For the last 23 years, the shelter had been operating in noncompliance according to the Eureka Times Standard. 

“The sheriff’s department is in charge of the cruelty complaints,” Kircher said. “So this has been an ongoing issue, and they’ve just been kicking the can down the road. Nobody’s addressing it.” 

 Mullins described reports of dogs found with visible bullet wounds and blood coming from their ears. Some graves were also left uncovered due to the state of decomposition the animals were in. This left her in shock.

“What really caught me when I read this, and I also heard it in the press release, is that they are in the final resting place. They’re not,” Mullins said.“This is not the resting place. This is a mass grave.”

Jacqueline is the super duper cool sports editor, social media manger for LJ and news manager for KRFH.