The author has tried for months to get authorities to aid her neglected, hungry canine neighbor.By Marisa M. Kashino
Published February 26, 2013
Update: Thank you to all the commenters for their concern. But please do not seek to take action yourselves. Since posting the story, I've gotten a great response from officials within Mayor Gray's office, as well as the DC Council member for my ward, Kenyan McDuffie. The Humane Society of the United States is also now looking into the situation. I sincerely appreciate your intentions, but I am hopeful this situation can be resolved legally.
I knew the dog would be an issue from the second I saw her. My husband and I had been condo hunting for months when we finally found the place that felt like it could be home. It was one of four units in a newly renovated rowhouse in DC’s Bloomingdale neighborhood. But the dog that I could see through the fence next door gave me real pause.
Her yard was a mess—covered in feces and random debris. She didn’t seem to have much shelter, and I couldn’t see bowls for water or food. Most alarming—she didn’t look well. She was thin, and her constant barking told me she was seriously stressed. Who knew how long she had endured these conditions? The condo building, which has a direct line of sight into her yard, had been vacant for years before a developer came through and remodeled it. Maybe no one had noticed this poor dog before.
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Marisa M. Kashino covers law and lobbying as a staff writer for Washingtonian, and also edits the magazine's Pets coverage. She and her husband live in Bloomingdale with their dog, Bexley, and their cat, Olive.
It is despicable that this happens in this country, and even more so in the nation's capital. There is a similar problem in the unit alley between Seaton and S St. NW, and despite numerous calls to WHS, and months of "building a case," the dog remains in a bad situation.
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