D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh has found $200,000 in city funding to ensure an animal shelter that didn’t have air conditioning, among other woes, is able to take better care of the pets it’s supposed to protect. The Washington Humane Society operates the shelter at 1201 New York Ave. NE, but rents the facility from the District. Each year, about 10,000 animals — from cats and dogs to turtles and rabbits — move through the facility. Earlier this month, Cheh visited the shelter and found a rundown building. Dogs were without blankets and cats were without the scratching boards they need to burn energy and keep their nails short.
“The city is responsible for monitoring the property and hasn’t kept up with it,” Cheh said. “The lack of repairs came to a head this summer when A/C went out.”
The Ward 3 Democrat is known as the council’s most animal-focused member. Last year, she pushed through a bill meant to force the pest control industry to stop using certain types of traps that Cheh deemed inhumane.
“I’ve always loved animals,” she said.
The Department of Real Estate Services is in charge of maintaining the building, but the D.C. Department of Health has oversight over animals. Cheh said the 50-year-old shelter had slipped through the crack between the agencies. Over the last week, though, she has met with officials in each agency and repairs soon will be underway after the health department agreed to shift $200,000 to real estate services to get the work done.
High on the list of fixes are new latches for windows that will help keep out burglars who break in searching for the powerful drugs the shelter keeps for the animals. New lights will be added. The cooling system has been fixed.
Meanwhile, Washington Humane Society President Lisa LaFontaine is looking at the future and new, modern shelter. The society is already laying the groundwork for a fundraising campaign to raise the dollars needed to find a new home for their primary shelter.
“It’s depressing here,” LaFontaine said, referring to the New York Avenue shelter. “We want a facility that serve as a community center, where people are comfortable coming to visit and will maximize that chance for people and animals to come together.”
