The Humane Rescue Alliance mentioned Wednesday they’re investigating the case, and officers with District Dogs mentioned they’d cooperate with authorities.
“The District Dogs family is heartbroken over this incident and extends its sincere condolences to the family of the dog, and we grieve their loss at this profoundly difficult time,” officers at District Dogs mentioned in a press release to The Washington Post on Wednesday.
The incident comes after 10 dogs died in August during a flood at a distinct District Dogs facility on Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast Washington.
People trapped contained in the flooding facility waited 23 minutes for first responders to reach after officers initially obtained studies of the flood, The Post previously reported. Water pooled six toes above floor that day. A supervisor watching the shop via a webcam informed a 911 operator, “the whole building is going underwater” because the partitions gave means, in keeping with name transcripts. But a dispatcher informed firefighters that the business had a water leak, resulting in the delayed response.
Once first responders arrived, they rescued 20 dogs, and all seven individuals inside made it out, authorities mentioned.
Some pet house owners have blamed Jacob Hensley, District Dogs’ proprietor, within the aftermath of the flood for not having a greater escape plan for the animals, particularly given the business’s flood-prone location and a forecast for rain that day. In 2022, the ability similarly found itself underwater during a storm. Hensley has mentioned metropolis officers — who knew the world to be flood-prone — had assured him that enhancements to his business made it protected.
Hensley didn’t instantly reply Wednesday to a request for remark.
“It seems unreasonable that there had not been a greater precaution taken,” Kerry Garro, whose canine died within the flood, mentioned on the time. “I don’t blame the employees. I blame whatever protocol they had in place.”
Hensley has since closed District Dogs’ Rhode Island Avenue location. The firm now has six amenities and a seventh opening up in Northwest Washington, in keeping with its web site.
