About the Author: Karen Pearlman
Karen Pearlman is a longtime San Diego journalist and associate editor at East County Magazine, where she covers local news, government, community issues and feature stories.
Karen Pearlman • August 24, 2026
California animal welfare groups push for state bureau to fix oversight gaps
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A scene from rescues effort and investigation in Northern California at Miranda’s Rescue. Photo courtesy Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office
By Karen Pearlman, East County Magazine
In light of recent high-profile cases exposing gaps in oversight, transparency and accountability for companion animals, some of California’s top animal welfare organizations are lobbying for the creation of a centralized Bureau of Companion Animal Welfare within the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
A coalition — which includes San Diego Humane Society, California Animal Welfare Association (CalAnimals, the state’s association for animal shelters and animal control agencies), San Francisco SPCA, Valley Humane Society, Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, the ASPCA, Humane World for Animals, Best Friends Animal Society and Oakland Animal Services — will hold a collaborative press conference at 10 a.m., Monday, Aug. 24 at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Lawmakers, shelter representatives and law enforcement members are expected to attend.
The state has animal protection laws covering the care, sale, transfer, sheltering, boarding and breeding of pets, but no single statewide entity ensures those laws function together. Advocates say the result is a fragmented system in which local agencies often operate with limited resources, inconsistent standards and no reliable mechanism for early intervention.
Two recent cases illustrate the problem, coalition members say.
At Villa Chardonnay, Horses with Wings, Inc. an organization in Julian that presented itself as a sanctuary, San Diego Humane Society executed a search warrant and assumed care of more than 700 animals, including nearly 450 cats plus 30 dogs, 175 horses and more than 70 farm animals, following years of many publicly shared concerns about inadequate conditions on the property.
Investigators found Villa Chardonnay-housed animals suffering from malnutrition, emaciation, untreated wounds, infections and substandard medical care. Many of the animals rescued from the Julian site required extensive treatment, while others were euthanized to end severe suffering.
“Villa Chardonnay showed us the enormous cost of waiting until a situation becomes catastrophic,” said Jace Huggins, vice president and chief of humane law enforcement at SDHS. “Rescuing 728 animals required an extraordinary mobilization of investigators, veterinarians, animal care teams and community partners. A statewide bureau would not replace local enforcement, but it could provide the licensing, inspections and complaint-response infrastructure needed to identify warning signs before hundreds of animals are in crisis.”
Further north, in Humboldt County, Miranda’s Rescue remains under active investigation, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, amid allegations that dogs accepted by the organization were killed and falsely represented as adopted.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Deputies said investigators recovered canine remains, skulls, bones and more than 600 dog collars from Miranda’s Rescue property, and that preliminary examinations indicated many of the recovered dogs died from gunshot wounds. Hundreds of additional dogs transferred to the rescue remain unaccounted for. The investigation is ongoing.
“The investigation into Miranda’s Rescue has highlighted the need for greater accountability and transparency for organizations entrusted with animals,” said Humboldt County Sheriff William F. Honsal.
“Law enforcement is designed to investigate suspected crimes after evidence comes to light; it is not a substitute for routine licensing, inspections and reliable reporting. A statewide Bureau will give California an earlier line of sight into how animals are received, cared for, transferred and adopted, while preserving the authority of local agencies.”
Pros and cons
Supporters say a Bureau could license and register companion-animal businesses and organizations, conduct inspections, investigate complaints, support enforcement of existing laws, collect and publish statewide data, provide the public a clear reporting channel, and coordinate with local animal control, public health and other agencies.
Funding could come from a tiered, fee-supported licensing model that accounts for organization size, type and animal volume.
Darcy Smith, co-founder of Funky Chicken Rescue in Vacaville, said she supports stronger protections for animals but opposes adding another layer of bureaucracy.
California already has animal welfare laws, animal control agencies, code enforcement and law enforcement, she said — the focus, and the funding, should go toward strengthening those existing systems.
Smith has closely followed a separate case involving a Duck Sanctuary run by Howard Berkowitz, whose operation was raided in Valley Center on July 16 after moving into San Diego County following years of code enforcement contacts in Riverside County.
More than 800 animals, most of them birds, were seized, and Berkowitz was arrested on a Riverside County warrant. Smith said Riverside County code enforcement cited Berkowitz repeatedly over the years but that he continued relocating the operation rather than face impoundment of his animals. She said many animal control agencies are severely understaffed and underfunded, leaving officers unable to thoroughly investigate every complaint or conduct needed follow-ups.
“Rather than spending money creating another Bureau, I would much rather see those resources invested directly into local Animal Control — more officers, better training, stronger investigative resources, and the ability to follow up on every credible allegation of neglect and abuse,” Smith said. “Accountability and additional bureaucracy are not the same thing.”
Audrey Reynolds of Saving Horses Inc. said she raised concerns about conditions at Villa Chardonnay for years before the intervention took place, and that she and another advocate, Annette Ledda, came forward with evidence in 2024.
Reynolds said she supports creating a state-level agency the public can turn to when local government response falls short, while stressing that laws still need to be enforced locally first.
“Who can I go to in Sacramento?” Reynolds said. “It’s time for some type of change.”
Not everyone is ‘the bad guy’
Coalition leaders emphasized that the vast majority of California’s shelters, rescues, foster groups, veterinarians, boarding providers and breeders operate responsibly.
The recent cases, they said, illustrate what can happen in the absence of consistent licensing, inspections, reporting requirements and statewide accountability — and local agencies and nonprofits often shoulder that responsibility with limited coordination or shared data.
“California’s shelters and animal control agencies are being asked to operate within a statewide system that has no common foundation for licensing, inspections or information sharing,” said Jill Tucker, CEO of CalAnimals. “A Bureau would establish clear, consistent expectations, help organizations understand and meet those standards, and allow small problems to be corrected before they become costly tragedies.”
The coalition continues to call on the California Legislature and the next governor to establish the bureau, championing the ideas that doing so would give the state the tools, expertise and accountability needed to protect companion animals, consumers and communities.
Learn More About Borrego Springs
Borrego Springs Yacht Club Brings Model Sailboat Racing to Rams Hill Borrego Springs is home to an unusual desert pastime: model yacht racing. The Borrego Springs Yacht Club was founded in 2010 by Steve Luckman and Dennis Daoust. The club has grown to about 40 members and operates at a pond on the former nine-hole golf course at Rams Hill. Members race V32 sailboats, 32-inch non-motorized model boats controlled remotely through their sails and rudders. The boats were manufactured in California for decades but are no longer in production. Races typically draw 16 to 20 boats, with courses marked by duck decoys used as buoys. The racing season runs from November through May, although members can practice throughout the year. Six club events are held during the season, including Opening Day in November, the Pacific Cap in January, the Invitational in February, the Misplace Race in March, the Powder Puff in April and the Tequila Bowl in May. Winners receive trophies that are held until the next event. The club also maintains a palapa-style clubhouse and hillside seating overlooking the pond, providing space for members and spectators during race days. Membership was listed at $250 per year. The Borrego Springs Yacht Club offers a distinctive local version of sailing, combining competition, model boat craftsmanship and community activity in the desert. If you have any interest, contact Dennis Daoust at captain-havoc@earthlink.net .
The great free movies continue in October, with a French psychological thriller – Les Diaboliques, and Emma Stone in her Oscar winning performance – Poor Things. All screenings are held on Wednesday evenings at 7pm at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center, 590 Palm Canyon Drive, Borrego Springs, CA 92004 . Our full schedule for 2026 is posted on the BSFI website: www.borregospringsfilminstitute.org . Please check the website for the most up to date information. Here are the movies coming in October: Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at 7pm – Les Diaboliques – 1955 – Not Rated – 1h 47m Les Diaboliques , released in the United States simply as Diabolique , is a landmark of psychological suspense and one of the most influential thrillers in the history of cinema. A French psychological horror thriller co-written and directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, it stars Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, and Charles Vanel, and is based on the 1952 novel Celle qui n'était plus by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Set in a decrepit French boarding school for boys, the film follows the wife (Véra Clouzot) and mistress (Signoret) of a sadistic, irredeemably cruel headmaster (Meurisse), who conspire to murder him and disguise his death as an accidental drowning. When his body vanishes from the school swimming pool, however, and a ragtag detective (Vanel) begins poking around, the two women start experiencing chilling evidence that their tormentor may not be dead after all. Clouzot had optioned the rights to the source novel immediately after finishing The Wages of Fear (1953), reading it through the night and securing the rights the next morning — in doing so, narrowly preventing Alfred Hitchcock from acquiring them. Les Diaboliques went on to have an enormous influence on Hitchcock and directly inspired his horror-classic, Psycho (1960). The film premiered in Paris in January 1955, where it ran exclusively for seventeen weeks, and in the United States its press screening was held on Halloween 1955. Critically, the film was a sensation, earning the reputation that has followed it ever since: the Criterion Collection describes it as "a heart-grabbing benchmark in horror filmmaking," calling it "an almost perfect movie about a very nearly perfect murder," and the National Board of Review named it among the best foreign films of 1955, calling it "a genuine thriller — a shocking, satisfying chunk of Grand Guignol psychological suspense." The film earned Clouzot the enduring sobriquet of "the French Hitchcock," though many have argued, with considerable justification, that the comparison undersells him. In French with English subtitles. Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at 7pm – Poor Things – 2023 – Rated R – 2h 21m Poor Things is a wildly inventive, exhilaratingly strange, and visually ravishing work of absurdist cinema that stands as one of the defining films of recent years. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara, based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, the film is an Ireland-UK-US co-production starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael. The story follows Bella Baxter (Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Dafoe), who, hungry for the worldliness she lacks, runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents, growing ever more steadfast in her determination to stand for equality and liberation. The film is a Frankenstein story refracted through feminist philosophy, dark comedy, and steampunk visual extravagance, moving from black-and-white to lush, outlandish color as Bella's consciousness expands. Poor Things premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival in September 2023, where it won the Golden Lion, and was released theatrically in the United States by Searchlight Pictures in December 2023. It became Lanthimos's highest-grossing film, earning over $117 million worldwide on a budget of $35 million. Critically it was celebrated with tremendous enthusiasm, where the consensus describes it as "wildly imaginative and exhilaratingly over the top — a bizarre, brilliant tour de force for director Yorgos Lanthimos and star Emma Stone." The film was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. At the awards ceremonies, it swept the season: it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy and Best Actress for Stone, five BAFTAs including Best Actress in a Leading Role, and at the 96th Academy Awards received eleven nominations — second only to Oppenheimer — winning four: Best Actress for Stone, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. And looking forward, here are the scheduled movies coming in November and December: Wednesday, November 4, 2026 at 7pm – Babette’s Feast – 1987 – Rated G – 1h 42m Directed by Gabriel Axel and adapted from a short story by Isak Dinesen, the film tells the lovingly layered tale of a French housekeeper with a mysterious past who brings quiet revolution in the form of one exquisite meal to a circle of starkly pious villagers in late nineteenth-century Denmark. The title role of Babette is played by Stéphane Audran — with Birgitte Federspiel and Bodil Kjer as the two devout sisters into whose isolated lives Babette quietly, transformatively arrives. Babette’s Feast became the first Danish film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Among its many admirers is Pope Francis, who named it his favorite film of all time. In French, Danish, and Swedish with English subtitles. Wednesday, November 18, 2026 at 7pm – The Daytrippers – 1997 – Rated R – 1h 27m Written and directed by Greg Mottola in his feature debut, the film follows the distraught Eliza (Hope Davis), who discovers a love letter written to her husband (Stanley Tucci) by an unknown woman and turns to her tight-knit Long Island family for help — sending the whole clan, including a strong-willed mom (Anne Meara), a taciturn dad (Pat McNamara), and a jaded sister (Parker Posey) with her pretentious boyfriend (Liev Schreiber) in tow, piling into a station wagon and heading into Manhattan to find out the truth. With its droll humor and bittersweet emotional heft, The Daytrippers announced the arrival of an unassumingly sharp-witted new talent on the 1990s indie film scene. Critics were largely enthusiastic: the Washington Post called it proof that "a great movie isn't a matter of dollars, so much as creativity," while Newsweek noted that "thanks to the superb cast and Mottola's deft touch, this modest-looking comedy proves quite memorable." Wednesday, December 2, 2026 at 7pm – Brief Encounter – 1945 – Not Rated – 1h 26m Directed by David Lean and adapted from Noël Coward's one-act play Still Life, the film stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard as two married strangers who fall into a fleeting, unconsummated love affair after a chance meeting at a railway station, told largely in flashback through Johnson's internal narration. Restrained, quietly devastating, and shot in stark black-and-white with Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto as its emotional backbone, Brief Encounter became a landmark of British cinema for its portrayal of repressed longing and moral duty. It was widely praised on release — earning the Grand Prix at the first Cannes Film Festival in 1946 and Academy Award nominations for Lean's direction, Johnson's performance, and the screenplay — and it continues to be regarded by critics as one of the finest British films ever made, frequently topping "greatest films" lists for its emotional precision and understatement. Wednesday, December 16, 2026 at 7pm – The Holdovers – 2023 – Rated R – 2h 13m Directed by Alexander Payne, the film is set at a New England boarding school over the 1970 Christmas break, where curmudgeonly ancient history teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti) is stuck supervising the handful of students with nowhere else to go. As the group dwindles to just one, sharp-tongued troublemaker Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa), Paul and the school's head cook, Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), who is grieving the loss of her son, form an unlikely bond over their shared isolation. Written by David Hemingson, The Holdovers was a major critical success, earning five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, with Randolph winning Best Supporting Actress. Critics praised its warmth, wit, and old-fashioned craftsmanship, with many calling it one of the finest films of the year and a worthy heir to the character-driven dramas of the era it evokes. Wednesday, December 30, 2026 at 7pm – The Thin Man – 1934 – Not Rated – 1h 33m Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, the film stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a witty, hard-drinking former detective and his wealthy wife who are pulled back into sleuthing when an old acquaintance's inventor father goes missing amid a string of murders. Their affectionate, wisecracking rapport, as much as the mystery itself, became the heart of the film, setting the template for the screwball detective comedy. Based on Dashiell Hammett's novel of the same name, The Thin Man was a critical and commercial sensation on release, earning four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Powell. It remains a landmark of 1930s Hollywood, celebrated for launching a beloved franchise and for Powell and Loy's chemistry, still considered one of the great screen partnerships in film history. This season’s BSFI movie screenings are being generously underwritten by the Borrego Valley Endowment Fund (BVEF). See you at the movies!
Sunset Dinner Specials at La Casa del Zorro
