Actress Linda Blair was cited for operating an animal facility without a license and exceeding the number of animals allowed in a residence after inspectors found 251 dogs at her Acton animal rescue, Los Angeles County officials said on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
The inspection was carried out Friday, July 31 after multiple complaints alleging that dogs were being kept in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions at the 2.5-acre property occupied by the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control.
The site was previously licensed as an animal facility and permitted to keep a maximum of 100 dogs, however officials said that license expired in 2023 and was not renewed.
No animals were removed during the inspection, which also involved the county departments of Regional Planning, Public Works and Public Health. Officials issued orders to comply to seek veterinary treatment for three dogs, and to correct deficits in housing facilities and sanitation, authorities said.
“Regional Planning made nine separate attempts to schedule an inspection of the property, and DACC (Animal Control) made an additional 15 attempts over a period of three years to contact the property owner to conduct its own inspection,” county officials said. “All attempts by both departments went unanswered or were refused, leaving the county no alternative but to seek a judicial warrant to proceed.”
Blair addressed the situation on social media Tuesday, saying the coronavirus pandemic placed added pressure on private animal rescues whose numbers swelled during the early 2020s.
“Now all of you … start to understand what rescues go through,” she said.
“I look at it as a positive. We now have more light shed on animal welfare and animal rescue and the plight of the animals than ever, ever before,” she said in a video posted on Facebook. “I have crisscrossed the country, the world, begging, handing out my animal-welfare paperwork, (asking) ‘How can you help?’ ‘What can you do?”‘
The “Exorcist” star, 67, has lobbied for years on behalf of so-called “bully breed” dogs, such as pit bulls. She called for donations to help her rescue organization conduct more spay and neuter surgeries to reduce the unwanted pet population, and to find loving homes for the dogs in her care.
“This is the animal-rescue community saying, ‘We want a better life,”‘ Blair added. “Stop abandoning animals, stop the high-kill. All of this can be changed, and even the authorities can get involved and help.
“This does not have to be a fight,” she said. “It has to be everybody’s support in making a better world.”