Social Compassion

05/21/2026

A horrific and still developing story out of Fortuna, California, where Miranda's Rescue is accused of shooting dogs in the head in order to continue accepting shelter dogs for payment.

Thanks to the Lost Coast Outpost for it's detailed reporting on the story:
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2026/may/20/mirandas-rescue-neighbor-says-she-caught-him-camer/

In summary, the Sheriff's investigation shows evidence that Shannon Miranda has been "rescuing" dogs from various animal shelters around the state, including Oakland, Berkeley, Palm Springs, Solano County and others in order to collect the fees that either the shelter or an affiliated nonprofit would pay Miranda to take the animal. The investigation states that Miranda would've taken in at least $178,000 over 3 years from Oakland Animal Shelter alone.

Detective Aguilera believes that Miranda killed dogs to make space for new dogs and to therefore receive more payments.

One of the discovered dogs was identified by a microchip as Zora, a black female dog in good health and of good temperament, who had been transferred from Oakland Animal Services a few weeks before her death. Miranda had sent a photo to a shelter employee in April stating that Zora had been adopted; similar lies have been told of other dogs.

The story states that the Sheriff's Major Crimes Division is now investigating Miranda over “credible” allegations of felony animal abuse, animal cruelty, fraud and conspiracy.

The story highlights the role of Jennifer Raymond, founder of the Humboldt Spay/Neuter Network, who bought a parcel of land next to Miranda in order to see with her own eyes what she suspected was happening on the property and report to the authorities. A true hero!

We encourage any nonprofits which have transferred dogs to Miranda or any of the animal shelters which Miranda pulled animals from to immediately stop all transfers and all payments to ensure their nonprofit dollars are not supporting this criminal activity.

The Sheriff’s Office is requesting any tips or information relevant to this investigation be called in to their tip line at 707-268-2539.

05/21/2026

05/20/2026

All NEW Episode 8 of the Because They Need Us | Judie Mancuso & Nick Sackett are joined by Emma Hurst to expose the harsh realities of Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry and the international fight to stop wildlife exploitation.

🇬🇸 About Emma Hurst

Emma Hurst is an Australian Member of Parliament representing New South Wales and a leading voice for animal protection through the Animal Justice Party. Since entering office, she has championed legislation and investigations focused on wildlife protection, factory farming, companion animal welfare, and ending cruel commercial animal industries. Her work has made her one of Australia’s most recognized political advocates for animals and ethical reform.

🦘 Watch Part 1 | Inside the Kangaroo Industry
https://socialcompassion.substack.com/p/inside-the-kangaroo-industry-featuring

🐨 Watch Part 2: | The International Effort to Save Wildlife
https://socialcompassion.substack.com/p/the-international-effort-to-save

05/19/2026

"LOS ANGELES — The animal welfare system continues its march towards collapse as City leaders appear resigned to accept preventable downstream consequences rather than invest in affordable prevention.

Shelters are dangerously overcrowded. Millions of taxpayer dollars are wasted annually on the risks and financial liabilities resulting from unchecked animal populations. A chronically underfunded system kills thousands of sheltered animals–not because they are sick or dangerous, but because they fall within a morally indefensible rate of loss baked into a set of myopic policy choices.

The cause is fixable and well understood. Yet, year after year, City leaders opt for inaction and allow the problem to deepen, proposing cuts or simply ignoring LA Animal Services and core population control programs like spay and neuter.

This year’s proposed budget exemplifies this pattern. Mayor Karen Bass’s 2026–27 budget increases funding to LA Animal Services by just 1.6% and makes only marginal adjustments to spay and neuter programs, failing to keep pace with inflation. This is not fiscal restraint. It is negligence [...]"

Read the full article by Dr. Gary Michelson in the Westside Current:
https://www.westsidecurrent.com/living/pets/op-ed-the-city-kills-thousands-of-shelter-animals-while-defunding-solutions/article_f8354376-92ba-484e-8e60-f84faad7584f.html

05/16/2026

🚨 NEW EPISODE OUT NOW 🚨

Part 1 of Episode 8 of the Because They Need Us Podcast is live! 🎙️🦘

Join Judie Mancuso, Nick Sackett and special guest Emma Hurst, a Member of Australian Parliament and leading animal advocate, for an eye-opening conversation about Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry and the global fight to stop its expansion.

Emma shares the disturbing realities behind kangaroo hunting, including the killing of joeys, concerns over inaccurate population estimates, and the public health risks associated with kangaroo meat. Together, they also discuss the successful effort to defeat California’s SB 1212 — a bill that would have reopened California’s market to kangaroo products after decades of protections.

This episode is a powerful look at how international advocacy, public pressure, and compassionate legislation can help protect wildlife from cruel commercial exploitation.

🎧 Listen now and help spread awareness.
https://socialcompassion.substack.com/p/inside-the-kangaroo-industry-featuring

05/14/2026

🚨 Has your city updated its emergency plans for pets?

Get and share the F.O.U.N.D. Act Implementation Guide to ensure preparedness for your animal friends before the next disaster;

https://socialcompassioninlegislation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/AB-478-FOUND-ACT-Implementation-Guide.pdf

Thanks to Social Compassion in Legislation fellow, Bella Niven for bringing awareness of this new law to the City of Malibu.

05/13/2026

Social Compassion in Legislation Founder and President, Judie Mancuso, was quoted in a recent Los Angeles Times article detailing the financial difficulties many animal rescues and other animal-focused charities are facing:

www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-09/lack-of-funding-leads-to-severe-neglect-at-socal-animal-rescues

With the rise in pet overpopulation, along with recent large-scale seizures from neglected “sanctuaries,” the demand for animal rescue is soaring, even as the cost of caring for animals continues to rise and donations have significantly declined or, in some cases, disappeared altogether.

05/12/2026

☎️ Please call the Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee no later than 5PM on Wednesday and simply urge them to:

“Please support AB 2344 and move it to the Assembly Floor.”

Call Assemblymember Buffy Wicks NOW!
(916) 319-2014

ABOUT THE BILL

Our cosponsored bill, AB 2344, which would allow prosecutors to ask a court to require forfeiture of animals seized in abuse cases so they can be adopted sooner, rather than held in shelters for months or even years as evidence while cases are resolved, will be voted on by the Assembly Appropriations Committee this Thursday.

Animals that have already suffered horrific abuse deserve the chance to leave the shelter environment behind and begin healing in safe, loving homes as quickly as possible.

On Thursday, the Committee will decide whether the bill advances off the “Suspense File” or is “held on suspense,” which would effectively kill the bill for the year.

05/08/2026

We are thrilled that the City of Laguna Beach has become the fifth city in California to ban glue traps, joining West Hollywood, Ojai, Ventura, and Culver City.

The ban comes more than two years after the Laguna Beach Environmental Sustainability Committee first voted unanimously in support of prohibiting glue traps and urged the City Council to adopt an ordinance. You can view the original hearing at this link, beginning at time code 50:15.; https://lagunabeachcity.granicus.com/player/clip/2297?view_id=3&redirect=true

As Vice Chair of the Committee at the time, our Founder and President, Judie Mancuso, brought the issue forward alongside her colleagues, Mina Brown and Chair Shelly Bennecke, helping lead the effort to recommend the ban to the City Council by highlighting the horrific pain and suffering these inhumane devices inflict on animals.

“I’m so relieved that this option is off the table in Laguna,” said Mina Brown. “We are following other communities that have decided glue traps are too cruel to use. They also kill animals that aren’t the intended target. I hope many more communities will join us. Exclusion is the best way to deal with unwanted rodents. Anything else is ineffective and frankly horrible to contemplate if you believe that animals have feelings like we do.”

“While it took the City Council more than two years to act on the recommendation, better late than never,” said Mancuso. “Hopefully this will begin the ball rolling for more cities to follow suit. With five California cities now banning glue traps, and Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles) authoring federal legislation to do the same, momentum continues to build, and we are hopeful California will adopt a statewide ban in the near future.”

05/06/2026

😻 NEW article from SCIL's volunteer data scientist, Michael Loizos Mavrovouniotis;

Marketing of Slow-Track Rather than Fast-Track Animals Reduces Mean Length of Stay and Animal Shelter Census Count: A Theoretical Study

🔍 What is it about?

Animal shelters have limited resources to promote adoptions, such as better kennel placement or online visibility. This study shows that, when promotional efforts increase adoption chances proportionally, they should be focused on animals that are harder to adopt. These slow-track animals typically remain longer in the shelter, so helping them leave sooner reduces the overall shelter population more effectively.

In short, to reduce crowding and improve outcomes, shelters should prioritize marketing resources for the animals that need them most—not the ones already likely to be adopted.

The study models adoption as a probabilistic process and evaluates how marketing interventions affect adoption rates.

Under the assumption that interventions have a multiplicative (proportional) effect on daily adoption odds, the analysis compares the impact of applying those interventions to different groups of animals.

The results identify which allocation strategy produces the greatest reduction in overall time spent in the shelter.

🐾 Why is it important?

Shelters constantly face overcrowding and limited staff time. Decisions about which animals to promote are often based on intuition, visibility, or perceived adoptability.

But there has been little formal guidance on how to allocate scarce promotional resources to reduce length of stay and overall shelter population.

This paper provides a clear, quantitative framework for making those decisions.
It can be tempting to promote the most appealing animals to boost quick adoption numbers. But the study shows that strategic allocation can reduce crowding more effectively. Shelters can improve outcomes without increasing resources.

🤓 Read the full article - https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/16/8/1158