Animal Watch
Animal Watch
Thursday, April 6, 2006; Page DZ16
These were among cases handled recently by the Washington Humane Society. The society operates its own shelter at 7319 Georgia Ave. NW and the District's shelter at 1201 New York Ave. NE. For more information or assistance, 24 hours a day, call 202-723-5730 or visithttp://www.washhumane.org.
Turtle Fed Too Many Franks
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12TH ST. NE , 5000 block, March 22. A man asked animal control to remove a snapping turtle from his house because he was tired of caring for it. He had been keeping the reptile, which he had found during a fishing trip four years earlier, in a tub in the basement. An animal control officer who picked up the turtle was told by the man's wife that she had been feeding it mostly hot dogs during the last four years. The turtle was so obese that it could not retract its legs into its shell. It was transferred to a wildlife rehabilitator.
In the wild, snapping turtles eat mostly fish, according to the Humane Society. The society says hot dogs are not healthful for turtles.
Spouse Is No Fan of Stray Cat
OKLAHOMA AVE. NE , 500 block, March 20. A man asked animal control to remove a stray cat from his front porch. He said the animal had appeared on the porch a few days earlier and he had been feeding it. He wanted to keep the cat, he said, but his wife didn't. An officer took the 10-month-old female tortoiseshell to the shelter, where it was made available for adoption.
Collie Collared by Secret Service
17TH AND E STREETS NW , March 25. Secret Service agents caught a 9-year-old collie trying to enter the grounds of the White House. An animal control officer took the animal to the D.C. shelter, where a lost-pet report had recently been filed for the dog by a Michigan couple visiting Washington. They claimed the pet.
Injured Dog Surrendered
R ST. NW, 100 block, March 21.
A man surrendered a miniature pinscher to animal control. He said he had accidentally stepped on the dog's leg and broken it, and could not afford an estimated $2,000 needed to surgically repair the injury. Animal control took the dog and was arranging to have the surgery done using a Humane Society fund for pre-adoption medical treatments. The dog was to be made available for adoption after recovery.