14 dogs rescued from Southeast DC house find new homes
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — The Humane Rescue Alliance, HRA, had 14 dogs up for adoption Saturday. They were among the 31 recovered from the Southeast D.C. home in February, where three police officers were shot and wounded during a stand-off.
By the time the HRA closed, only two more dogs needed new homes.
Kiara Moore and her family adopted “Mercedes,” and her brother, “Gabanna,” both were pitbull mixes.
“The dogs are so cute and sweet,” Moore said. “I just was like, if we can rescue them from the shelter and give them a permanent home, that’d be great.”
HRA recovered the dogs shortly after the Feb. 14 barricade situation, which led to an hours-long stand-off, allegedly by Stephen Rattigan.
Investigators, according to the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, first learned of the dogs after a security camera was said to have caught Rattigan beat one of the dogs in April last year. They went to his home twice in January to address the number of dogs and their living conditions, which included metal cages.
“These dogs have been through a lot, but at the same time, we’ve spent a lot of time with them over the past weeks and know that they are 100% ready to be in a new adoptive home,” said Chris Schindler, the HRA’s chief operating officer. “But this is also a big surge of people and so I think, much like people, anybody might get a little bit nervous, but I think you’ll see that they’ll just melt into your arms the minute you interact with them.”
Twelve dogs, including seven puppies, were adopted within hours after the HRA opened for business.
“I was just so glad they was able to hold on for us until we got here,” Moore said.
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She and some relatives left with the newest members to their family.
The remaining 17 dogs, according to the HRA, have either been adopted or are receiving more training before they can find new homes.
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