A dog that was staying at District Dogs in D.C. died after being kicked by an employee, according to police reports.
According to an incident report from D.C. police, at about 4 a.m. Friday, the employee said he was feeding the pup when the dog “got too energetic.” The employee reportedly “tried to calm him down” by kicking the dog “in an unknown part of the body.” This “caus(ed) the dog to lose consciousness,” the report stated.
In a statement to WTOP Tuesday night, District Dogs said the involved employee has been fired.
The statement from District Dogs said a dog staying there was “physically struck” by one of the company’s employees at the dog day care’s Navy Yard location and subsequently died. The animal was taken to a nearby veterinarian but could not be revived, District Dogs said.
“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,” District Dogs said in its statement.
The dog day care said it’s fully cooperating with authorities as they investigate.
WTOP has reached out to the Humane Rescue Alliance whose officers are investigating this case.
The dog’s death comes less than a year after 10 dogs drowned at District Dogs‘ Rhode Island Avenue location in August, when torrential downpours inundated the building. After the storm, the pet day care said that staff “worked heroically to save as many animals as possible despite real danger to their own lives. Many had to cling to shelves and counters themselves.”
That location had dealt with flooding in the past and has since shut down permanently.
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