'Horrifying scene': More than 100 dead dogs found at California 'No-Kill' shelter with gunshot wounds

The remains of at least 117 dogs have been discovered at a California “no-kill” animal shelter, with many showing signs of gunshot wounds, authorities said, according to the AP.

During searches at the 50-acre Miranda’s Rescue Animal Sanctuary in Fortuna, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office investigators also found 21 dog skulls, hundreds of bones and other animal remains.

Investigators combing the scene Thursday found an area in the barn where they believe the dogs were likely killed, the sheriff’s office said. More than 600 dog collars were found nearby, the authority said, as reported by the AP.

Sheriff William Honsal called it a “terrible scene.” No charges have been filed.

A message was left with shelter founder Shannon Miranda seeking comment.

In a statement posted on the shelter’s website on June 18, Miranda said recent media coverage and online comments “have provided an incomplete and in some cases inaccurate picture of our work.”

“At Miranda’s Rescue, our mission is to save as many animals as we safely can – always balancing compassion for animals with our responsibility to protect families, children, other pets and the public,” Miranda wrote.

The sheriff’s office said it began investigating the shelter after receiving “credible information” in April “about allegations of aggravated cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals, fraud and conspiracy.”

Miranda’s Rescue collects fees from shelter transfers as well as donations, which she says help cover the costs of food, shelter, veterinary care, medication, equipment and staffing expenses.

An affidavit from an earlier search of the property said the sheriff’s office was tipped off by a pair of animal advocates, one of whom owns property adjacent to the shelter and used trail cameras to monitor activity near the alleged burial site.

Defense attorneys later went to the shelter’s property and dug up the dog’s remains, the affidavit states.

“This investigation is just beginning,” Honsal said in a statement. “There is a huge amount of data to process, witnesses to interview and evidence to examine.”

Using ground-based radar, investigators found 117 intact remains in various stages of decomposition buried in an open field, the sheriff’s office said.

They X-rayed 70 remains at the 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’s office said.

Investigators also found other remains in an advanced stage of decomposition, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said hundreds of dogs have been transferred or donated to Miranda’s Rescue by private individuals and animal shelters.

In a statement, Miranda said, “Miranda’s rescue is a no-kill rescue. We don’t euthanize animals just to make room.”

But Miranda wrote, “There are rare circumstances in which euthanasia may be necessary — when an animal is suffering from a terminal condition or when it poses a serious, ongoing danger to people or other animals.”

“In these situations, we make the most humane and responsible decisions we can, always with public safety and animal welfare in mind.”