Animal Care and Control officials cited “The Exorcist” star Linda Blair after several complaints led county authorities to investigate her Acton dog kennel operation where they discovered 251 canines at the unlicensed facility.
In response, Blair said in a social media post that this incident highlights general overcrowding issues at rescue sites brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four Los Angeles County agencies — the departments of regional planning, public works, public health, and animal care and control — executed a warrant to inspect the 2.5-acre property of the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation in Acton on Friday after numerous requests by the agencies to schedule visits to the site were ignored.
The agencies were prompted to inspect the property after receiving several complaints that alleged that more than 100 dogs were being kept “in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions in a variety of unpermitted and/or unapproved sheds or outbuildings on site,” according to a statement by Animal Care and Control.
Under the warrant, county officials were also inspecting the property to determine whether the foundation was in compliance with building and land use codes and regulations.
The Acton property was previously licensed as an animal facility with a maximum limit of 100 dogs on site, but the license expired in 2023 and was not renewed, Animal Care and Control stated.
Friday’s search of the property revealed 251 dogs.
County officials did not remove any dogs from the premises but instead served the facility with an order to treat three dogs with veterinary care. Orders were also issued by the Department of Animal Care and Control to correct deficits in housing facilities and sanitation.
The owner of the facility was issued two citations, one for operating the animal facility without a license and another for exceeding the number of animals allowed in a residence. Authorities did not disclose what monetary fines were imposed with the citations.
Officials said a number of structures were developed in violation of the county zoning code and an unpermitted industrial-sized cargo container on site also raised additional concerns about animal safety.
Animal Care and Control confirmed that the Department of Regional Planning had found zoning violations but did not provide further details.
“This remains an active investigation, and no further comment about any other findings of the inspection will be provided at this time,” the Department of Animal Care and Control stated.
In a video posted on the Linda Blair Worldheart Foundation Instagram account, Blair said, “I wanted to come to you and say, this has been quite the experience, and I look at it as a positive.”
The actress said this experience and the media coverage surrounding it sheds light on a pervasive issue within the animal welfare and rescue industry: shelter overcrowding brought on by the pandemic.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Blair said shelters closed their doors because the facilities were deemed nonessential, and as a result, many animals were not spayed and neutered and many were left on the street.
“People expect and need rescues but every rescue is full, full to capacity,” she said in the video.
This isn’t the first time the foundation property has been under scrutiny for violating its animal facility license. Officials said the facility has been repeatedly cited for license violations, “including at one point housing more than 180 dogs,” violating the limit under the animal facility license at the time.
A warrant was sought to conduct the inspection after the Regional Planning Department made nine separate attempts to schedule an inspection of the property and Animal Care and Control made an additional 15 attempts over the period of three years to contact the property owner to conduct its own inspection.
Officials said all attempts went unanswered or were refused.
Blair, whose IMDb site lists dozens of movies and television shows dating back to 1968, founded her foundation in 2003 to rehabilitate and rescue abandoned and abused animals.
