Luna's Story
Luna survived less than a week after being "rescued" by Humans and Animals United. She is one of MANY dogs that have met a horrific fate after HAAU collected big pledges/donations and then turned their backs.
Luna is a dog that Humans and Animals United“rescued” from Miami Dade Animal Services on or around September of 2021 that ultimately led to this rescue being banned from pulling dogs from this shelter for an extended period of time.
As usual, HAAU posted Luna across their expansive web of pages to solicit as many pledges and donations as possible. The rescue has since deleted all of these posts, however, it’s safe to assume that Luna generated as much money for this rescue as all of their other dogs do and that’s in upwards of $10K, however, the exact figure is unknown.
Once Luna was picked up from the shelter she was brought to Comfort Kennels in Hialeah, Florida – Rosa Fond’s boarding facility of choice. READ ABOUT COMFORT KENNELS SKETCHY REPUTATION HERE. For someone who frequently boosts about how her rescue spares no expense for her dogs, bringing her dogs to this kennel defies logic.
Labeled “aggressive” by the shelter, Rosa Fond thought it would be a good idea to have someone visit Luna while at boarding and provoke her with a spray bottle of what we were told was water. The purpose of this sick exercise was to see “how aggressive” Luna truly was by antagonizing her. Take a second to absorb that. A video of this encounter was leaked on social media causing an uproar by many concerned and outraged animal advocates, rescue groups and volunteers.
What people saw was deeply disturbing. There is no denying what is taking place in this video, however, Rosa Fond has a gift for spinning things to suit her narrative. Here she is attempting to tell people that they didn’t see what they saw. In other words, she is peeing on everyone’s shoes and telling them it’s raining.
There’s a lot to unpack in this short little post that Rosa Fond made. Let’s dispel some of the lies contained within by Rosa Fond.
- First, Rosa claims that she placed a “courtesy hold” on Luna on behalf of another rescue. While that may be the case, we’ve been able to confirm that Rosa did not know anything about this rescue or its owner, had never dealt with this rescue before and did no background check or due diligence on the owner of the rescue. She did what she routinely does and that’s to hand dogs over to virtually anyone for the asking – after she generated thousands in pledges/donations that she pocketed, and when things went wrong, blame everyone but herself.
Luna did not stay at Comfort Kennels for a “few days” as Rosa stated in her post intended to appease her followers. Luna actually stayed at Comfort Kennels for well over 30 days.
- Per witness accounts, Rosa Fond is the person who instructed the kennel staff to spray Luna in the face in order to determine her level of aggression. When your dog is with a boarding facility, the only people authorized to make any type of requests regarding the dog is the owner of record. Boarding facilities, like Veterinary Offices will not discuss the care of any dog with anyone other than the owner (Rosa Fond) or whomever the owner authorizes the facility to talk to. Rosa is contradicting herself by admitting that she was well aware of what took place.
Why didn’t Rosa Fond get Luna professionally trained or assessed with some of the tax free dollars she received in donations? Rosa is known to pull many “aggressive” dogs yet there is never any mention of training or progress updates on any of these dogs having successfully completed any type of training program.
As you can see, what Rosa wrote in these messages between her and a concerned animal advocate is NOT exactly the spin she put on things in her post above where she attempts to deflect from any wrongdoing and claims she was unaware of everything. Here she is admitting that she was aware of this event and that the owner of the rescue“Michele” “asked for a video” and “That’s what she got”.
Here is Rosa Fond admitting to someone that she was aware of what happened to Luna at Comfort Kennels and that it was done “Per Request”. Notice how she doesn’t say that she “knew nothing” or that she thinks this behavior is unacceptable. Instead, Rosa is justifying the video and it is clear that she was the one that ordered this be done to Luna per the “Request”of the rescue she was sending Luna to.
After a long stay at Comfort Kennels, Luna was taken to the rescue in Kentucky. Enter Rosa’s transporter “Lisa P.”. Lisa has a conviction history of DUIs yet Rosa didn’t feel this should get in the way of her using Lisa’s transportation services. Nothing but the best for her dogs – as she likes to say.
What followed was, let’s say – “messy”.
The video of Luna being sprayed in the face and taunted made it’s way to the Miami Dade Animal Shelter who immediately launched an investigation into this disturbing video. After their investigation concluded, they BANNED Rosa Fond and her rescue from pulling dogs from their shelter.
Letter Sent from Miami Dade Animal Shelter to Rosa Fond informing her of her ban:
Despite empirical evidence that Rosa Fond was banned from the Miami Dade Shelter for the abuse of Luna that was caught on video, she did what she does best and continued to deny, deny, deny.
The above post shows Rosa attempting to explain things away with more lies, claiming that her partnership with the Miami Dade Shelter was terminated by the shelter “Not for anything else but a breach of contact” and that “We sadly didn’t have the correct wording in our rescue transfer paperwork”.
When Miami Dade Animal Services finished their investigation into this incredibly disturbing event and Rosa Fond’s involvement, they demanded that Rosa reclaim Luna from the rescue in Kentucky and bring her back.
The rescue refused to give Luna Back to Rosa, citing that they had legally binding documents showing ownership of Luna and would not be returning her.
What followed is straight outta the Keystone Cops.
Rosa hatched a hair brained scheme to get Luna back by sending her transporter, Lisa P. to go get Luna. Lisa showed up at the rescue owner’s house claiming she was enroute to pick up a dog and asked if she could “crash” for a night. The next morning, the rescue owner claims that she encountered Lisa attempting to steal Luna at which point she called the police.
Here is a portion of that report:
The transporter (Lisa P.) was advised by the Police that she could not legally take Luna and then left, but not without a parting gift. According to the rescue owner – Michele, her pain medication went missing and she pointed the finger directly at Lisa.
From there, Michele, angry with Rosa for not handing over the money she raised for Luna, spoke up about the matter on social media and it wasn’t long before she was quickly bullied into silence by Rosa Fond and her Goons.
Rosa Fond and Barbara Queenbee AKA Barbara Ranberg Smith started posting absolute lies about Michele in order to detract from their own wrongdoing and to diminish Michele’s voracity, their typical M.O. Among their venomous claims are that Michele was a “drug addict” and “addicted to pain pills” – an accusation they have leveled against many of their critics and anyone who has spoken up against them including adopters. If that was the case, why oh why did Rosa Fond and company send Michele this dog? This just reinforces the fact that HAAU will hand a dog over to anyone without an ounce of due dilligence or concern.
Here’s an example of the false accusations put out by Rosa and her cohort/volunteer Stephanie Zorn Lopez in order to destroy Michele’s credibility and bully her into silence:
Sadly, Luna is dead
Due to Luna being labeled “aggressive” by the shelter, there were grave concerns over her whereabouts and what ultimately became of her. Sadly, our investigation conluded that Luna survived for just days at her new home before meeting a very tragic fate, the home that Rosa Fond and Barbara Ranberg Smith choose for her. They choose to turn Luna over to a woman, “Michele”, who operates from her house in a deeply rural area with no animal control or oversight from the Department of Agriculture. They knew Michele had numerous Akitas and outside kennels only. They had no qualms about turning Luna over to this person in what was far from an ideal home environment for Luna.
Michele's account of what happened to Luna
Michele told the following story, which is fully documented, about her account of what happened to Luna. Apparently, just a few days after taking possession of Luna, Michele claims that Luna became sick. She stated that while on her way to the vet, Luna passed away in her car. Michele claimed that she had an necropsy performed and the results were inconclusive. We simply are not buying her version of events and here’s why.
Michele provided very vague details about Luna’s supposed illness. How does a seemingly healthy dog just all of a sudden die in her new owner’s care within less than a week?
When asked for a copy of the autopsy report, Michele stated she had no problem providing a copy, however, when pressed for this, she back peddled and simply would not produce it. This leads us to believe that there was no necropsy. When pressed for more details about Luna’s death, Michele’s behavior became very concerning. She contradicted herself multiple times and began behaving like someone who was trying to hide the truth.
What we think really happened to Luna
After a careful examination of all facts presented and all information uncovered by our investigation including speaking with Michele and other witnesses, we believe that Luna was attacked by one or more of Michele’s Akitas which are known to be on the aggressive side and not very dog friendly. It’s far easier to claim that Luna fell ill and died then to be honest and admit that she was killed by one or more of Michele’s Akitas, however, we believe that is precisely what happened to Luna. We also believe that Luna being sprayed in the face at the boarding facility was done to see if she would fight back if attacked by Michele’s Akitas, leading us to believe that Rosa Fond’s participation in this twisted and cruel exercise is proof of her knowledge of the environment she was sending Luna off to and that it was potentially a very unsafe place. That didn’t stop Rosa from sending Luna off to Michele and her Akitas just like it didn’t stop Rosa from sending Raptor off to a very unsafe environment. READ ABOUR RAPTOR.
Whether or not Humans and Animals United knows about Luna’s tragic demise, they bear the ultimate responsibility. It is their job to ensure that each dog they place is going to be safe and well cared for. As with many of the dogs they have placed with little regard for the dog’s safety, Luna was set up to fail by HAAU who choose to send her a thousand miles away to a woman who had many Akitas and later a person who Rosa Fond admits has a “criminal history”. Rosa Fond is LITERALLY admitting that she sends dogs off to people with criminal historys.
Anyone who has asked for an update on Luna was told by Rosa Fond or Barbara “Queenbee” that “Luna is very happy in her new home”. This is what they say about ALL of their dogs when asked for updates and it is far from truthful.
Luna never received any training nor were there any plans with Luna’s new owner, Michelle, to have her trained. So why did this rescue bilk people for thousands under the guise of providing training for Luna?
Notice Question #2? This person simply asked to know what trainer Rosa used or would be using for Luna and was told by this rescue that is would be $2,500.
Here is the same post, however, Rosa deleted the question regarding the trainer and proceeded to block this person, something she does routinely anytime someone asks questions she does not like.
Here is Rosa further attempting to sully Michele’s name by claiming that she has a “criminal history” as well as a “scamming history”. If there is any truth to Rosa’s claims, why, oh why did she agree to pull a helpless, innocent dog for this woman and one that was deemed aggressive by the shelter? If anything illustrates just how little caution Rosa and her crew exercise with the lives of the dogs they play fast and loose with IT’S THIS POST right here:
RIP Luna
Rosa Fond claims that the person she sent Luna to has a “criminal history as well as other scamming history” yet she still sent this person a dog – one that she collected thousands for. Let that sink in. Here is a former volunteer and transporter who cut ties with Rosa and her rescue after realizing the truth.
HAAU Continues to lie about Luna to the public to this very day
No matter the spin Rosa Fond attempts to put on every terrible situation she finds her and her rescue in, ultimately the truth surfaces.
She pulled Luna for a person that she knew nothing about – no due diligence was done, no attempts to ensure Luna would be in good hands were made. She saw Luna as a money making opportunity as she does all dogs and went to work raising money right away for her, taking in thousands.
Michele was never given any of the money that Rosa and her rescue solicited for Luna which sadly, was not necessary after Luna’s tragic demise.
Many people believe that Luna is in a good home, living a good life. That’s what Rosa Fond and company tell those that inquire about Luna. All of the people that donated for what they thought would be her training and other care have no idea that Luna died very soon after being pulled from the shelter yet here is Rosa Fond lying AGAIN.
Very sadly, Luna was already dead when Rosa Fond wrote her post. Here are Rosa Fond’s words:
“All I can do is be truthful and explain what happened. Luna is happy and has made a beautiful transition. As a rescue I am grateful that she has another chance at life and if flourishing”.
Just wow.