Hitchcock Road Animal Services pauses transfers to Miranda's Rescue and readies free-adoption day on June 6

Hitchcock Road Animal Services said it has stopped transferring animals to Miranda's Rescue and is awaiting county investigators' findings, and it also outlined plans to participate in California Adopt a Pet Day on June 6, during a Monterey County news briefing on May 27.

"They are no longer a valid transfer partner for us. So there will be no more animals going to them," said Cindy Burnham, who introduced herself as administrator at Hitchcock Road Animal Services, describing the shelter's response while investigators continue work and the agency coordinates with county investigators for updates.

Burnham said the shelter provided investigators with a list of all animals it transferred to the rescue over the past six years but that Hitchcock Road does not yet know whether any animals found in the investigation originated from their transfers. "If any of the deceased animals found had come from Hitchcock Road, we would have heard about it already and we have not," she added, while noting investigators remain "pretty inundated" and phone coordination is ongoing.

Separately, Burnham described local plans for California Adopt a Pet Day on Saturday, June 6. She said the statewide goal is to find homes for 5,000 animals and that more than 150 shelters are participating; adoption fees statewide are sponsored for the event. Locally, Hitchcock Road will waive adoption fees and provide free dog licenses for people within its licensing jurisdiction, and organizers plan food vendors, a photo booth and resource tables.

Burnham confirmed adopted animals available at the event will be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped, and said the shelter will post availability updates on its social media and website (hitchcockroadanimals.org). She also said the shelter adopted more than 50 animals during each of the prior two such events and emphasized the shelter's counseling and medical-record review process will continue despite waived fees to try to ensure appropriate placements.

The host closed by thanking Burnham and encouraging attendance at the adoption event.

The shelter did not announce a formal disciplinary finding or legal determination; the briefing relayed Hitchcock Road's administrative decision to stop transfers to Miranda's Rescue and its ongoing coordination with investigators.