It's been a bizarre week for D.C. animal news. A guy who'd read a novel about a gorilla takes hostages at the Discovery Channel. A shark turns up in the Potomac. A new report says city cabbies discriminate against blind people with guide dogs. And now comes word that a kitty [...]
When temperatures creep near 100 in these parts, the true American idiots are sure to be found. How? They leave their dogs inside a ridiculously overheating car while they go about their day of activities. Because we all know how enjoyable it is to sit in our own car with the windows up in this [...]
In hockey, this week was the worst
The Caps seem to really be cursed
Game 7: they choked
Got totally smoked
An outcome in which they're well-versed
Farewell to the late Dorothy Height
(Whose hats could both awe and delight)
The eulogy, tender
Showed speech-giving splendor
From start to the final sound bite
The teachers continue to wonder
If talks are just doomed to go under
Since [...]
Not Just Playing Dead: The Washington Humane Society is looking for an opossum killer. On April 27, in an alley behind 1026 16th street NE, eleven of the critters were found bludgeoned to death. The animal organization believes the marsupials were stoned to death. The Humane Society is offering a $1,000 reward for any information regarding the grisly [...]
The Washington Humane Society says a Maryland man who allegedly let a black-and-white pit bull named Shelly teeter on the brink of starvation, has been arrested. Gurdip Singh, who turned himself in to the Fifth District police station on April 2, has been charged with animal cruelty.
According to documents attached to the warrant for his [...]
Now that we know a Rottweiler puppy named Iris lost her leg to abuse, the question becomes why? A vet amputated the pup's leg as it had become paralyzed and necrotic. It was paralyzed and necrotic because someone wound a rubber band around it. Someone wound a rubber band around it for reasons unknown.
Because of a carelessly placed rubber band, a Rottweiler puppy had to have its leg amputated. The Washington Humane Society is investigating.
The pets arrived packed in various makeshift coffins. There was a tarantula in a terrarium, a sugar glider (nocturnal marsupial similar to a flying squirrel) in a grocery bag, a rabbit in a trash bag, a chameleon in a box, an anole (small lizard), two frogs, three rats, and two mice—all in Ziploc bags.
The dozen [...]
Talk to Me, Goose: A Canada goose's goose was almost cooked when it made a crash landing at Bolling Air Force Base on March 5. Two Animal Control Officers (ACOs) from the D.C. Department of Health who were dispatched to the scene came upon the animal in one of the military base's parking lots. The bird [...]
Rise of the Poodle: A poodle got stuck in a tree. Yes, that's right: Poodle. Stuck. Tree. The poodle, whose name is Parker, lives in the 1400 block of Manchester Lane NW. Apparently, Parker was in hot pursuit of a raccoon or opossum on Feb. 23 when he scampered up a tree and got stranded, [...]
Pushy Cat: A kitten who bullied too much was given up on Feb. 16 in the 1200 block of Mt. Olivet Road NE. The feline was surrendered to Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) because it was aggressive toward other cats in the household. The Humane Society soon discovered the potential reason: A pink collar around the [...]
Go Bo: Bo Obama, the presidential pet, seems to be at ease with the Snowpocalypse. Photographed yesterday frolicking around a snow-piled White House lawn—we don't suppose Barack had anything to do with that—the dog appeared to like the powder. The pics, taken by White House photographer Pete Souza and available on Flickr, actually may have [...]
Worse Than Poison: The Washington Humane Society's Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) received word on Jan. 28 that someone was poisoning stray cats in an alley intersecting the 900 block of L Street NW. The informant claimed he saw a bottle of anti-freeze next to a pan of cat food. An animal cop arrived at the [...]
Rest in Peace: A man was burying a dead dog in Anacostia Park on Jan. 22 when he was discovered by U.S. Park Police. A Humane Law Enforcement (HLE) officer was called in, and the gravedigger explained that his canine—a blue-and-white pit bull—had died of a seizure. The pit was examined by a forensic veterinary [...]
Rolling up in a white Ford Explorer, Mitchell Battle scopes out a two-story house on 55th Street NE. He glides the SUV through an open set of wrought iron gates, then swivels his head several times, trying to spot lurking dangers.
In all the years he's been on the job as an animal cop, he's never [...]
