Washington Humane Society HLE Division

Hello,

I am Mitchell Battle Director of Humane Law Enforcement at the Washington Humane Society I started working at the Washington Humane Society in 1999 as front desk assistant at the DC Animal Shelter. I later was offered and accepted a position as an Animal Control Officer. After a few years as an Animal Control Office, learning and gaining experience, I sought and was offered a position as a Humane Law Enforcement Officer. As a Humane Law Enforcement Officer, I have effectively investigated hundreds of animal cruelty and neglect cases, and I have effectively made a number of arrests, and have successfully executed a number of search warrants with the assistance of MPD. I have worked closely with Adam Parascandola for a number of years and in January 2006, Adam elected me as the new Director of the Law Enforcement Department.

 The Washington Humane Society has appointed a new President and CEO, Lisa LaFontaine. Lisa comes to us from New Hampshire where she spent 7 years as CEO of the Monadnock Humane Society (MHS), an open admission, full service Adoption and Learning Center. In her 7 years as CEO at MHS, Lisa transformed that organization from a traditional animal shelter into a leading regional state-of-the-art agency providing comprehensive services to animals and people. As a result MHS became one of the premier animal welfare organizations in the Northeast, and is recognized nationally for its progressive programs. I am certain Lisa will move WHS into a new era.

The Humane Law Enforcement team has two new Humane Officers, Officer Ann Russell who comes to us from Los Angeles where she attended Veterinary Technician School and worked with many rescue groups, and Officer Jen Gardner who studied environmental policy and worked with wildlife protection groups in South Africa and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Officer Gardner also worked at our Shelter on Georgia Avenue for one year before joining the Humane Law Enforcement team.

 Since Adam’s last blog there have been some new exciting things going on at WHS. The second annual Humane Society walk for the animals will take place on September 23, 2007 hosted by the Washington Humane Society and the Humane Society of the United States. All proceeds benefit efforts to end pet homelessness. For more information visit: www.washhumane.org

In fall 2007 the Washington Humane Society, along with founding partner Alley Cat Allies will unveil the first ever low-cost Regional Spay/Neuter Center, created specifically to service the entire DC metropolitan area. The new facility will be named the National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center. An official ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on Thursday October 4th at the new National Capital Area Spay & Neuter Center located on 1001 L Street on Capitol Hill in Southeast.

 Here are some updates from our Humane Law enforcement team. Humane Officer Russell received a bite to her left arm while conducting a compliance inspection in N.E. A large male Akita that appeared none threatening at first glance changed his mind once Officer Russell entered the rear yard upon the owner’s approval. The dog latched on to Officer Russell’s arm leaving two small puncture wounds. Officer Russell was treated at a local hospital and returned to work the next day. Humane Officer Moyer was bitten by two large American bulldogs as he assisted another Humane Officer in impounding three dogs from a yard where there was a forth dog in the yard that was deceased. Officer Moyer received a minor injury to his left arm that was treated at a local hospital. He returned to work the next day and is doing fine. In May 2007 a deer somehow got himself caught on a small iron rod fence and was hanging by its abdomen in the 1900 block of Columbia Rd. N.W. People driving by saw the trapped animal and called WHS to help. A man on the scene was over heard stating that he was going to put the animal out of its misery. While on the phone with WHS a patron advised WHS staff what the man was saying. The WHS staff member asked the patron to tell the man not to hurt the deer and that a Humane officer was en route. Humane Officer Schindler arrived on scene about 10 minutes after the first call and saw that the deer was dead and still stuck on the fencing. A spectator told officer Schindler that a man that was standing near the deer hit the deer in the head with a hammer three times and killed it. Officer Schindler approached the man pointed out by the witness and asked him what happened. The man stated that he heard a loud sound and came over to see what it was when he saw the deer stuck on the iron fence. The man further stated that another person that was standing near by told him that he has already called WHS and the police. The man said that he did not want to wait around for the police, so he went to his car got a hammer and put the animal out of its misery by hitting the deer in the head with the hammer 3 times. Humane Officer Schindler impounded the body of the deer, and submitted it for necropsy. The final analysis of the body indicated that the abdominal wall was still intact, increasing the possibility of the deer surviving the initial trauma. The abdominal wounds were not fatal, the abdomen not having being punctured, and could have been treated with minimal medical intervention. The necropsy report further stated that the cause of death was trauma to the head. The bruising over the cranium, caused by concussive force, produced severe cerebral and cerebella bleeding.  Based on the necropsy report a felony arrest warrant has been issued for the arrest of the man that hit the deer.

On May 14th 2007 a man walked into the DC Animal Control Shelter to surrender his dead dog. The dog was living inside a N.W. dry cleaning business. WHS has been to the address a few times in the pass to address an accumulation of feces in the backyard. The owner was also advised not to cruelly chain the dog inside the dry cleaners. DC animal control contacted the Washington Humane Society to view the condition of the dog’s body. Humane Officer Timothy Moyer went to DC Animal control and saw that the body had multiple growth tumors on it, and was in emaciated condition (extremely malnourished). Humane Officer Russell met with the owner, who stated that he never noticed the growths all over the dog’s body. Officer Russell contacted the owner’s veterinarian and received a copy of the last vet record on file, from 2001 that advised the owner to monitor the dog for mammary tumors. An arrest warrant was signed for the owner’s arrest. In the last month or so WHS has rescued three animals that were in need of limb amputation, one kitten that was missing one of its rear feet, one chocolate lab mix that was missing its rear foot and ankle, and one small terrier mix puppy surrendered to WHS. The kitten was impounded during an investigation of a complaint about a large number of cats living inside an address. Once Humane Officer Schindler arrived on scene, he saw the kitten dragging itself around at the front of the address. The resident stated that the kitten was born with only three feet, and that he was not the owner of the animal. He stated that he was just feeding the stray cats. Humane Officer Schindler impounded the kitten. She was later taken to a local veterinary Hospital and had the remaining portion of the leg amputated, and is now available for adoption. The small terrier puppy was given up along with both its parents because the owner was moving to a location that did not accept dogs. One of the puppy’s front legs appeared broken and she did not put any weight on the limb. The owner stated that the puppy was born with its leg in that position, and the puppy has never been able to move the leg. WHS took the puppy to a local vet that confirmed the puppy had a birth defect. The puppy’s front leg was amputated and it is now available for adoption. The Chocolate lab mix was impounded from an address after Humane Officer Schindler responded to a complaint of a skinny 3 legged dog left dragging a chain and unattended in a yard in N.E. Later in his investigation, Humane Officer Schindler learned that some kids that live inside the address were playing with the dog and some how a cloths line was tangled around the dogs paw. By the time the parent noticed the cloths line it had embedded into the dog’s tissue, and the paw was infected. The dog began chewing at the injury until the entire paw fell off. The dog was taken to a local vet, the rear-injured leg was amputated, and she is now available for adoption.

This is my very first blog ever and I hope that it speaks to the incredible life saving work the Washington Humane Society Humane Law Enforcement does on the streets of DC, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. I am looking forward to seeing many of you as our Humane Law Enforcement program comes to your local community to provide you with a number of resources, such as our Humane Education program, the CatNiPP program, our Spay and Neuter program, the Safe House program, new upcoming adoption events and many more community based programs. Thanks

Mitchell Battle, Director of Law Enforcement, Washington Humane Society