A group of D.C. residents said they’re nervous to go outside because one of their neighbors has a home with more than a dozen dogs inside, some of them pit bulls.
Documents obtained by News4 show the police have been called to the house more than once, and in one case, the dog owner was bitten by their own pets.
A video shared with News4 shows multiple dogs in the backyard of the Northwest D.C. home. A person in the video can be heard cursing at the dogs while they move around.
Neighbors said they’ve raised concerns to community leaders and D.C. Animal Control about the treatment of the dogs, how many there are, and the dangerous incidents they said have happened in the neighborhood.
“It appears to be multiple litters at this point coming in and through the house,” a neighbor said.
In another video shared with News4, two neighbors can be seen out walking their dog. Across the street, several dogs are shown behind a fence before two of the dogs get out. Both dogs run out of the camera’s view. Seconds later, the neighbors return, one of them holding their own dog in the air while the other dogs jump at her.
“A lot of chaos in the moment; we’ve heard shouting, so we came out, and a lot of us that live in the neighboring areas witnessed it,” the neighbor said.
News4 obtained a police report filed last December in which a woman stated she was part of an incident involving her dog and her neighbor’s dogs. In the report, the woman stated the neighbor threatened her, saying, “Next time I see you outside, I’m gonna beat the [expletive] out of you.”
“We’ve complained that we see what’s happening; we have videos and you know we received threats from this particular neighbor every time we do it,” another neighbor said.
In one of the videos shared with News4, a woman can be heard yelling out curse words. Neighbors say the outburst was directed at another resident.
“Record what you want, I don’t give a f—, you going to watch your mouth, b—-,” the woman can be heard saying.
According to a second police report, filed just this month, police were called to the same Iowa Avenue NW home for a dog attack involving three dogs. The document revealed two dog owners were bitten while trying to separate their dogs. Both people were treated by EMS.
That police report also revealed the Washington Humane Society responded to the incident and took custody of one of the dogs involved in the attack. D.C. police were informed that there was an open case involving animals at the home with D.C. Animal Control.
“It’s really upsetting and it’s also highly irresponsible,” one of the neighbors said.
News4 attempted to speak with the dog owners in question to ask how many dogs are living at the property and to get a response to the concerns expressed by their neighbors. One woman spoke off-camera but didn’t provide details. Moments later, News4 was asked to leave the property by another person inside the home.
We reached out to D.C. Animal Control to get the details of the incident mentioned in the most recent police report and asked how these types of complaints are handled and what the rules are for how many animals a D.C. resident can own. We were then directed to Brandywine Valley SPCA.
The Brandywine Valley SPCA sent News4 a statement that reads, in part: “The Brandywine Valley SPCA in partnership has worked with this resident of the Iowa Avenue home with regards to the dogs in their care. […] This month, the owner has surrendered 11 dogs. The two dogs involved in the July 7th incident were also surrendered and are no longer in the home.”
According to neighbors, they’ve reached out to their ANC commissioner, the D.C. Council and D.C. Animal Control but haven’t seen or received any follow-up.
They said they don’t want to see the dogs be put down but are hoping for actions and solutions.
“I don’t want them to be put down; I don’t think it’s the dogs’ fault necessarily,” one of the neighbors said. “I like the dogs in a safe environment, out of harm’s way.”
