HRA is failing to fulfill its open access mandate and is exacerbating issues by not providing accessible pet health services.

Intake Policy Issues:

HRA is currently refusing to take in any dogs as owner surrenders, which leaves people having to make the heartbreaking decision to give up their pet with few options. In some cases, we have seen HRA only agree to accept an intake if the owner agrees to an “owner requested euthanasia,” which is a heartbreaking and cruel choice to put on someone already in a difficult situation. 

For cats, HRA is refusing to intake any healthy cats found outside, regardless of behavior, with the assumption that the cat likely has a feeder. This policy directly contradicts basic feline welfare practices and even goes against a study HRA itself funded that found DC cats living outdoors are harmful for the environment and face extreme additional dangers.

Community Cat Concerns:

HRA hasn't had a proactive community cat program with dedicated staff since at least 2020. If a community cat feeder wants their neighborhood cats spayed/neutered, they must humanely trap the cats themselves and bring the cats to a Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) clinic only held once per month, all without proper support from HRA.

Lack of Public Health Services:

DC residents are entitled to at least 10 hours of public vaccination from HRA per week, according to the current contract. For almost five months, HRA’s public vaccine clinics were on “pause” and unavailable. Today, HRA only offers 5.5 hours of public vaccines per week, according to its website.

HRA discontinued its low-cost spay/neuter services in August 2019, well before the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the services have yet to resume. Because DC has been without accessible spay/neuter for so long, it’s possible we’re seeing the fourth and fifth generations of unwanted or unplanned litters of dogs and cats in DC. It’s no wonder that HRA is filled with so many unwanted animals under 5 years old.

Recommendations

  • HRA must fulfill its mandate as an open access shelter and accept all owner surrendered dogs in a timely manner. Surrendered dogs should be properly evaluated by qualified HRA staff before outcome decisions are made.

  • At minimum, HRA must scan all cats brought in by the public for a microchip and ensure cats are TNRed before being returned outside. Ideally, HRA would intake cats who are candidates for indoor lifestyles and find them loving adoptive homes, after a stray hold where necessary.

  • HRA must resume the provision of discounted veterinary services, sufficient public vaccination services, and low-cost spay-neuter services for pets owned by the public, as well as for community colony cats and feral cats.