Samantha Redline, a vet tech at Shanderin Kennels in Rowland Heights, is pictured with a Labrador Retriever pit bull-mix named Milo on Monday, March 4, 2024. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
“Lucky” the hound dog caught a break.
He was one of 32 dogs — largely from Orange County Animal Care — that were abandoned by the Woofy Acres animal rescue at a Rowland Heights kennel.
Lucky and seven others have recently been placed and five more are in the adoption pipeline. Most of the dogs, however, are still stranded, which worries staffers at the Shanderin Kennels. Some of the dogs have been there for two years, but Woofy Acres of Porter Ranch stopped paying for their board and care in October. The dogs were supposed to be at the kennel on a temporary basis.
“We’re just heartbroken that someone was able to give up on so many dogs,” said Samantha Redline, a vet tech at Shanderin Kennels.
Redline said the kennel has been unable to reach Woofy Acres President Dianne Bedford for months. Meanwhile, the costs continue to mount, with the rescue now owing $40,000 to the kennel. Besides boarding costs, the dogs eat 40 pounds of food a day.
“We were in panic mode because we didn’t know what to do,” Redline said.
Without help, the kennel would have to send the dogs — like Apache, Milo and Rascal — to the already crowded Los Angeles County animal shelter in Baldwin Park.
“We’re upset, trying to do whatever it takes to get them taken care of,” she said.
Especially troubling to animal activists is that Orange County Animal Care has released 128 dogs to Woofy Acres since 2019, according to county records compiled by activist Michael Mavrovouniotis.
“The Orange County shelter just takes the view that we don’t care who takes the animals as long as we get them off our books,” Mavrovouniotis said. “We have reason to be worried.”
He believes Orange County Animal Care should do a better job of screening animal rescues and following up on placements.
“It’s part of (Orange County’s) reliance on rescues,” Mavrovouniotis said. “The shelter is not doing enough to make adoptions easier and their safety valve is to push as many animals as possible … to rescues.”
Of the 32 dogs stranded by Woofy Acres at Shanderin Kennels, 15 came from Orange County Animal Care while the others came from shelters around Southern California, according to Mavrovouniotis.
Alexa Pratt, a spokesperson for Orange County Animal Care, said the agency was unaware of any problems with Woofy Acres when it released dogs to the rescue, the last ones going in early January. Pratt added that Woofy Acres is not legally required to update Orange County Animal Care on what it does with the rescue dogs.
“While fortunately not common, OCAC has and retains the right not to do business with rescues who have been convicted of an animal crime,” she said. “OCAC will continue to monitor the situation in L.A. County for ongoing developments regarding Woofy Acres.”
Since May, Woofy Acres has been “delinquent” in filing the necessary papers to retain its status as a state charity, according to the California Registry of Charitable Trusts.
In 2021, Woofy Acres finished the year with a deficit of $25,164, according to its tax filing with the Internal Revenue Service. They listed revenues at $478,243, with expenses at $503,407. Woofy Acres spent $259,332 on boarding costs alone that year. Bedford and other officers did not collect any pay for their work, according to their filing.
Tax documents show Woofy Acres has raised $880,489 since 2018.
Bedford’s phone number has been disconnected. Calls and emails to Woofy Acres were not returned. One former officer reached by phone in San Diego said she knew nothing about Woofy Acres’ current status and hung up.
Redline said, at one time, Woofy Acres sent volunteers to walk the dogs it boarded at Shanderin Kennels and rotated the canines out for training. Then Woofy Acres’ contact with the kennel just dried up.
Redline said Shanderin Kennels is seeking donations for the stranded dogs, to cover their board and care and to aid in their placement. Shanderin also has established a Kennel Eviction Rescue fund to care for dogs that are abandoned. The kennel can be reached at 626-965-2376.
Originally published at Tony Saavedra