Pet owners in Washington, D.C., are outraged after an alleged communications failure led to a delay in an emergency response to flooding in a doggy daycare that left 10 beloved pooches dead.
Heavy rains Aug 14 brought a wall of brown floodwater to the doors of District Dogs, a Washington, D.C.-based doggy daycare, CNN reported. Unable to withstand the pressure, glass doors and windows collapsed, filling the business with six feet of floodwater as employees desperately made emergency calls, pleading for assistance.
“We moved dogs to the safest location, the back of the facility, high ground,” District Dogs owner Jacob Hensley told WUSA 9 News. “Once the water came in our staff are fighting for their lives. They were climbing on shelving. They were climbing on countertops. Some of them can’t swim and they were holding on for their own life.”
Earlier today, @MayorBowser claimed she had been in touch with families of the 10 dogs that were killed last week. More lies. In truth, she’s only reached out to the owner of District Dogs to “be helpful” to them. We’re formally requesting a meeting with her, @OUC_DC, + @DC_DOB. https://t.co/Zqz1VQvikJ pic.twitter.com/z2Bu7gT8UB
— Colleen Costello (@ANCCostello) August 23, 2023
The first calls came in to the D.C. Office of United Communications between 5:06 and 5:09 p.m. with callers explaining to dispatchers the gravity of the situation. “People are in danger, people are trapped in water and there is no way out,” one of the callers stated, according to WJLA News.
The call, however, was misclassified when sent to D.C. Fire and EMS officials with the dispatcher describing the situation as a “water leak” at 5:13 p.m., the outlet reported. Unaware that the reality of the situation was more urgent, the call was put on hold.
Approximately 8 minutes later, another call came into the Communications office, indicating that seven people were trapped in about 12 feet of water inside the daycare, WJLA News reported. Five minutes later, DC and EMS officials were on the scene performing rescues, but for some dogs – it was too late. (RELATED: REPORT: 12 Dogs From Georgia Shelter Die On Way To Adoption Event)
Acting Director Heather McGaffin of the Office of Unified Communications acknowledged that “things could have been done differently”, vowing to make changes. Her assurances, however, were met with frustration and anger from owners who lost their beloved pets in the flood.
“I am extremely frustrated and extremely angry about what happened with (the Office of Unified Communications) and how they deprioritized these calls,” dog owner Colleen Costello told CNN. “I don’t feel safe knowing that calls could be misclassified like this or deprioritized and I might not get the help that I need or my family needs,” she stated.
“It’s been appalling, frankly, the way that the city has handled this, just up and down,” another dog owner, Jonathan Garro, told the outlet.
Hensley revealed that the city had assured him his business was safe after heavy rains led to flooding there in 2022, with officials claiming it was a “once in a 150 year” incident. Despite the seeming anomaly of flooding, D.C. officials revealed they were building a drainage system to help alleviate flooding in that portion of the city.
“It’s still not finished, and it was supposed to be safe. That’s what I was told by city officials,” Hensley told the outlet.