After 10 dogs drowned in flooding at a dog day care in Northeast D.C. earlier this month, the District will limit how the location can be used in the future, sources say.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration will revoke the certificate of occupancy for District Dogs' first-floor location on Rhode Island Avenue NE, according to multiple government sources familiar with the decision.
D.C. residents whose dogs were among those that drowned said it’s a beginning. Some of them met with Bowser and other city officials Thursday to ask for decisive action to prevent another tragedy like this in which people and animals could be harmed.
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“We’re really appreciative of the time with administration and appreciate them hearing us, but definitely want to make sure feedback is getting taken seriously,” said Paul Buonomo, whose dog Pepper drowned in the flood.
Severe storms rolling through the District on Aug. 14 turned the major roadway in Northeast into a raging river. At the building where District Dogs was located, the water rose six feet up the exterior before a wall collapsed and water rushed inside.
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The flooding killed 10 dogs and endangered workers' lives.
As the owners of those dogs grapple with the tragedy and ask what went wrong, several factors have come to light. Delays in 911 dispatch response meant a 10-minute gap between the initial emergency calls and when first responders arrived.
Those who met with Bowser Thursday said they would have liked more definitive answers about the flawed emergency response.
“I believe the callers made the nature of the emergency very clear,” said Colleen Costello, whose dog Maple drowned in the flood. “They said walls had collapsed, people and animals were trapped, there was no way out.”
Also facing criticism was the location of the dog day care itself.
“We did talk about whether anybody should be allowed to occupy that space,” Costello said. “In my view, it’s unsafe.”
One neighbor previously shared with News4 video from another storm, showing construction workers trapped on an upper floor of an apartment building site as floodwaters inundated that stretch of Rhode Island Avenue. That flash flood happened in September 2020.
"Predictable," said Gordon Chaffin, the resident who recorded the flood on his phone. Chaffin is also a former infrastructure reporter. "The ingredients have been here for years and years."
District Dogs was also damaged by floodwaters in August 2022. When that happened, the owner pleaded with the city to do something about the flood-prone area.
That background contradicts much of the initial messaging from the District.
"This was an unprecedented event," D.C. Office of Unified Communications Director Heather McGaffin said at a confrontational press conference after the tragedy.
As of Thursday, the signs for District Dogs have been removed from the Rhode Island Avenue location.
