We have witnessed a steady decline in HRA's provision of care at both facilities, which has led to animals living in inhumane conditions.

Housing Concerns:

Dogs live in unacceptable conditions at both locations, which leads to their physical and mental decline. Dogs regularly bark or howling non-stop, slam their bodies against kennel walks, and smear their feces in their kennels due to unmitigated stress.

​​At the Oglethorpe location, we have seen dogs “warehoused,” living in small crates only three feet long by three feet high for weeks at a time, sometimes without consistent access to water. This practice has been occurring since 2021 and directly conflicts with HRA’s public guidance that “it is not humane to leave your dog in a crate for more than 4 hours at a time.” While the housing situation recently improved since HRA acquired some large cage kennels, many dogs remain in small crates. 

At the New York Ave location, kennels are often filthy and filled with feces and urine. The location is chronically understaffed and it reeks of animal waste.

Care Concerns:

Dogs aren't properly exercised and don't receive sufficient behavioral assessments or interventions, which has serious implications for their physical and mental health.

At the New York Ave. location, dogs often go for days without even getting a 15-minute break from their kennels. There are a few dogs at NYA under "Dangerous Dog" investigations who haven't left their kennels in months and in one case, even years.​​​​

When dogs start experiencing symptoms of prolonged stress, they are categorized as "staff only" and receive less care and attention if any at all, which worsens their situation.

Cats also often don't get to leave their small cages during their time at HRA.

Disease Outbreak Concerns:

The extreme stress that animals live under and inadequate care HRA provides has led to regular contagious epidemics at both facilities.

In 2023, a wave of highly infectious canine influenza swept through both facilities for over five months before it was finally addressed. During the influenza outbreak, there was also at least one parvovirus exposure at New York Ave. and panleukopenia struck the cat room at Oglethorpe. Recently, HRA experienced a Streptococcus Zooepidemicus scare at both locations, along with a simultaneous parvo outbreak at New York Ave.

For all of these incidents, animals needed to be quarantined, which further limited their out-of-kennel time and worsened qualities of life. .During the panleuk outbreak, cats deemed potentially exposed were not allowed to leave the facility for foster or adoption, which  only served to potentially expose other cats to the virus during that time.

Recommendations

  • HRA must update its guidelines for humane, orderly, and sanitary care for in-shelter animals, including provisions that dogs should not have feces or urine in their kennels, clear rules for temporarily crating dogs and cats, and mandates of at least 30 minutes of recorded out-of-kennel time per dog per day.

  • HRA must increase pay for animal care staff and increase hiring to fill staffing needs, especially New York Ave. HRA must also ensure staff receive comprehensive training and proper certifications so they have skills needed to help struggling animals. 

  • HRA must create true isolation wards for highly contagious diseases to stop outbreaks before the contagion spreads to the general population. When exposures happen, HRA must inform DC Health, volunteers, and the public in a timely manner.

  • HRA must institute twice-yearly professional medical-grade cleanings of its entire facility, in addition to regular monthly deep cleanings by staff.

  • HRA must amend its foster home panleukopenia policy to permit foster homes with a prior documented panleuk exposure to take in sick cats, enabling contagious cats to exit the shelter as quickly as possible and limiting possible exposure to healthy cats.

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