Heartbreaking situation at District Dogs - flooding on Rhode Island ave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sweet dog died in this flood. She liked this location the best because of the big windows and larger play space, and the staff have always been so loving. She went one day a week for day care when my husband and I work in the office, and we were boarding her here while on vacation. We regularly drove out of our way to take her here because it was where she was happy - you could even see her smiling in the pictures they took. It never occurred to me she would be unsafe there. She was only 18 months old and we were looking forward to our kids growing up with her. I don't understand how the city could allow any business to operate in an unsafe location, and wonder what the regulations are for emergency evacuation of the pets in their care. None of this will bring our beloved dog and the other beloved dogs back but I hope this can be prevented in the future.

I am so sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sweet dog died in this flood. She liked this location the best because of the big windows and larger play space, and the staff have always been so loving. She went one day a week for day care when my husband and I work in the office, and we were boarding her here while on vacation. We regularly drove out of our way to take her here because it was where she was happy - you could even see her smiling in the pictures they took. It never occurred to me she would be unsafe there. She was only 18 months old and we were looking forward to our kids growing up with her. I don't understand how the city could allow any business to operate in an unsafe location, and wonder what the regulations are for emergency evacuation of the pets in their care. None of this will bring our beloved dog and the other beloved dogs back but I hope this can be prevented in the future.

I am so sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m all for blaming people but this sounds like a weird and horrible tragedy. Not everything is caused by negligence.

This exact thing happened last year.

I think the city was supposed to be fixing the drainage in this area but it wasn't complete yet (according to councilmember Christina Henderson's Twitter last night). Was the business just supposed to relocate in less than a year. Seems this is more on the city than the business.

No. They were supposed to take adequate precautions given the known hazard.

+1 Like install sump pumps?

[Anonymous]

Why did the city allow this building to be built in an area known to flood?

Did the developer take appropriate action given the known flooding issues?

Did the business take appropriate action given the history of flooding to safeguard to lives of these animals?

[Anonymous]

This is on the Mayor - just like the crime wave in DC.

The executive branch of the District of Columbia should have addressed this manifestly unsafe flooding situation long ago. And given their failure to do so, they should not have allowed this and other businesses to operate in an unsafe area.

This is a heartbreaking situation, and a heartbreaking failure by Mayor Bowser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sweet dog died in this flood. She liked this location the best because of the big windows and larger play space, and the staff have always been so loving. She went one day a week for day care when my husband and I work in the office, and we were boarding her here while on vacation. We regularly drove out of our way to take her here because it was where she was happy - you could even see her smiling in the pictures they took. It never occurred to me she would be unsafe there. She was only 18 months old and we were looking forward to our kids growing up with her. I don't understand how the city could allow any business to operate in an unsafe location, and wonder what the regulations are for emergency evacuation of the pets in their care. None of this will bring our beloved dog and the other beloved dogs back but I hope this can be prevented in the future.

I feel sick for all of the dogs who were present, the employees who tried to save them, and of course, for everyone who lost their canine companions. I’m so very sorry for everyone impacted by this terrible tragedy.

Sending you hugs and healing thoughts for your broken hearts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m all for blaming people but this sounds like a weird and horrible tragedy. Not everything is caused by negligence.

This exact thing happened last year.

I think the city was supposed to be fixing the drainage in this area but it wasn't complete yet (according to councilmember Christina Henderson's Twitter last night). Was the business just supposed to relocate in less than a year. Seems this is more on the city than the business.

No. They were supposed to take adequate precautions given the known hazard.

+1 Like install sump pumps?

There is no sump pump that could handle 6 ft of water suddenly bursting through the wall and drain it down in less than the 1 minute it could take for a tragedy like drowning to occur.

There is absolutely nothing the staff could have done to prepare. There was no indication the wall would give way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sweet dog died in this flood. She liked this location the best because of the big windows and larger play space, and the staff have always been so loving. She went one day a week for day care when my husband and I work in the office, and we were boarding her here while on vacation. We regularly drove out of our way to take her here because it was where she was happy - you could even see her smiling in the pictures they took. It never occurred to me she would be unsafe there. She was only 18 months old and we were looking forward to our kids growing up with her. I don't understand how the city could allow any business to operate in an unsafe location, and wonder what the regulations are for emergency evacuation of the pets in their care. None of this will bring our beloved dog and the other beloved dogs back but I hope this can be prevented in the future.

I am so, so sorry for your loss. I can’t even imagine how painful this must be.

[Anonymous]

I feel so horrible for the people who lost their pets and the employees who are now probably traumatized as well. My dog attends a different daycare and the employees are the absolute best; huge animal lovers who take amazing care of the dogs. I can’t imagine them having to go through something like this. PP who lost their dog, sending so much love to you and your family, I can’t imagine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sweet dog died in this flood. She liked this location the best because of the big windows and larger play space, and the staff have always been so loving. She went one day a week for day care when my husband and I work in the office, and we were boarding her here while on vacation. We regularly drove out of our way to take her here because it was where she was happy - you could even see her smiling in the pictures they took. It never occurred to me she would be unsafe there. She was only 18 months old and we were looking forward to our kids growing up with her. I don't understand how the city could allow any business to operate in an unsafe location, and wonder what the regulations are for emergency evacuation of the pets in their care. None of this will bring our beloved dog and the other beloved dogs back but I hope this can be prevented in the future.

(((hugs))))

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you go look at Google street view you can clearly see that the multi-story building never should have been placed there. It is a low spot that easily floods. I’m sure District Dogs was leasing the space and the blame really goes to the building owner and the city planning commission.

This. The business leases a storefront - they could not install a sump pump even if that would have helped (it woud not) and the employees certainly couldn't do anything with the whole street out front flooded. What were they going to do with 30 dogs in a downpour and flood conditions? This is a failure of city planning, permitting, and construction.

I'm so sorry for PP and others who lost their pets, and for the employees who must have been terrified and also now unemployed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sweet dog died in this flood. She liked this location the best because of the big windows and larger play space, and the staff have always been so loving. She went one day a week for day care when my husband and I work in the office, and we were boarding her here while on vacation. We regularly drove out of our way to take her here because it was where she was happy - you could even see her smiling in the pictures they took. It never occurred to me she would be unsafe there. She was only 18 months old and we were looking forward to our kids growing up with her. I don't understand how the city could allow any business to operate in an unsafe location, and wonder what the regulations are for emergency evacuation of the pets in their care. None of this will bring our beloved dog and the other beloved dogs back but I hope this can be prevented in the future.

I am so so sorry, how devastating 🥺

[Anonymous]

This is terrible. I’m sorry, PP above. ^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m all for blaming people but this sounds like a weird and horrible tragedy. Not everything is caused by negligence.

This exact thing happened last year.

I think the city was supposed to be fixing the drainage in this area but it wasn't complete yet (according to councilmember Christina Henderson's Twitter last night). Was the business just supposed to relocate in less than a year. Seems this is more on the city than the business.

No. They were supposed to take adequate precautions given the known hazard.

+1 Like install sump pumps?

Pumping to where? Did you read the article or even look at the pictures? The new tunnel under the street to help with flooding has not been connected yet, so the water had nowhere to go. The flood waters were 2-3 feet above entry level at the business before the window broke. How do you think a sump pump works??

[Anonymous]

The fact that there was flooding at the location several times in the same month last year with no resolution meant there was always a risk the flooding would happen again. If I were the owner of District Dogs, I would have moved or closed the location.

It was not worth the risk to the dogs, their families, and the employees to stay open once it became apparent that the location floods. It was negligent. The City should have made the business move and facilitated it. When the decision was made to stay, I hope there was some disclosure of the prior flooding shared or posted for future pet owners to know.

I am sorry for all those involved. It is such a tragedy.