ohmidog!

A heavy concrete slab was dropped on the head of a sleeping puppy behind a convenience store in Northeast Washington late last month.

On Wednesday, an arrest was made in the case. Sean D. Branch, 24, was charged with one count of felony animal cruelty.

Branch, who was arrested in Clinton, Md., faces up to five years in jail and a $25,000 fine, the Washington Humane Society said in a press release.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing July 31.

Officer Michael Triebwasser of the Washington Humane Society said that the 6-month-old dog, King Tut, a brindle-and-white male, fell asleep about 9 a.m. in the shade behind the Circle Seven Express store on Mount Olivet Road.

The assailant, described by witnesses as a man in his late 20s, picked up a large concrete slab, held it chest-high and then let it fall on the dog’s head, the Washington Post reported.

According to court documents, the dog’s owner is Willie Starkey, who has no address.

Stepping out onto the exercise field with a dog at the Washington Humane Society is a thrilling moment — for me and the dog I’m with.

The dog knows he or she will be going for a walk or doing a training activity. I know that — as a result of the teaching, exercising, or simply socializing — the dog will be better for the experience.

After spending a few minutes walking and working with the dog I’ve taken outside, I think about how great it would be if I could always count on a second volunteer to be there at the same time.

Volunteering should be a team sport because it takes a lot of team work to provide the best experience for the dogs. 

Julie Stack, 44, a Washington Humane Society volunteer for seven years, is studying to be a professional dog trainer

Each volunteer should be willing to do whatever is necessary to help the dogs, including exercising them and also providing care for the animals. If one person tries to do only one task, the team suffers.

That’s why I want to encourage others to volunteer at the Washington Humane Society. Volunteering is not a game or sport, but it does require acting in unison and working together, and everyone must work hard to ensure success.

If everyone works hard together more can be accomplished. A true volunteer is committed to helping in all aspects of the care, training, and exercising of the animals. Team work doesn’t always mean that each person gets attention for everything they do. The benefit to the dogs is the reward.

This brings me to a dog with whom I have spent a lot of time at WHS. Her name is Ginger. She has beautiful brown eyes and she loves sitting close to me on the park bench outside. She also loves a peanut butter kong for a special treat.

Every time I go to the WHS, I can’t wait to take Ginger out and she loves to snuggle close to me and give me big kisses.

I also help train Ginger when we go outside. She is very smart and is always looking forward to “sitting” for a treat.

Participating in this “Shelter Enrichment Activity” is one of many things you can do as volunteer.

Ginger never wants to leave my side, and loves all the attention from volunteers. On Saturday, my fellow volunteer, Valerie, and I took out Ginger together with another WHS dog and they had such a nice time cooling off together in the summer heat, sitting in the cool shade of bamboo trees.

These are great moments to share with another volunteer and it is rewarding to know that we helped take the dogs out together and that they were so calm and happy out in the field.

To meet Ginger, stop by the Washington Humane Society Adoption Center located at 1201 New York Ave. NE. To see more of their adoptable pets, visit the website. If you are interested in providing anything extra for Ginger, please contact Katherine Zenzano at Kzenzano@washhumane.org.

Editor’s note: Volunteers are the foundation of most animal shelters – if not the heart and soul, at least the arms and legs. In this new feature, we invite shelter and rescue volunteers to share their thoughts.  If you’ve had an experience with a particular dog, or a particular program, if you’ve found new inspirations, learned some lessons or just want to write about the day-to-day work you do with animals, send your story along, with photos if you like, including one of yourself, to muttsblog@verizon.net.  

Nico Dauphiné, the National Zoo researcher accused of poisoning feral cats in the D.C. neighborhood of Meridian Hill Park, was convicted of animal cruelty charges yesterday.

DCist reports that Dauphiné, who denied the allegations in court last week, was pronounced guilty of the misdemeanor charge by D.C. Superior Court Judge Truman Morrison. She will be sentenced on November 21 and faces up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Evidence in the case included a video of Dauphiné appearing to plant something from her purse into a feeder.

“Our Humane Law Enforcement Department works hard to bring justice to abused animals in our city, and we can say with confidence that justice was served today,” said Lisa LaFontaine, president and CEO of the Washington Humane Society, which played a large role in the investigation of the claims.

In a press release, Alley Cat Allies, a national advocacy organization dedicated to the humane treatment of cats, welcomed the verdict and called for Dauphiné to be dismissed from her job as a Smithsonian researcher studying migratory birds.

“We are satisfied with this verdict,” said Becky Robinson, president of Alley Cat Allies. “Americans care about cats and will not tolerate cruelty towards them. We are grateful to law enforcement and to the prosecutors for treating this crime with the seriousness it deserved.”

“We call on the Smithsonian to immediately dismiss Ms. Dauphiné from her position and cancel any research projects in which she was involved,” said Robinson. “Her conviction for attempting to kill cats, along with her history of condemning cats in research, leaves her work suspect of major bias. Her work should be discredited and disregarded by the scientific community.”

The Smithsonian National Postal Museum is looking for an Owney look-a-like.

And they promise not to stuff him, or clone him.

In conjunction with the Washington Humane Society, the Postal Museum has launched a contest seeking a modern day living version of the dog that once rode mail trains across the country, and whose likeness recently came out on a new postage stamp.

That’s the good news. The bad news? Only three days remain to enter it.

Owney, a stray who wandered into a post office and was taken in by postal clerks, captured headlines and served as a good luck charm in the 19th Century.

His image was released on a postage stamp this summer.

But, before he became a celebrity rider of the rails, he was just an everyday mutt — maybe a little like your’s.

If your dog looks like Owney — believed to have been a terrier mix — you could not only win an iPad, but his or her picture could end up hanging in the museum.

“If your dog lends a helping paw, charms people everywhere, or resembles Owney, you could win an iPad2 pre-loaded with Owney’s e-book and an Owney prize pack,” the museum says.

Second and third place winners get Owney postage stamps, an Owney toy, and a signed book about the famous dog. The three winning dogs will have their photos displayed near Owney’s exhibit, which includes Owney himself, in mounted form.

You can find more images of Owney here.

Enter the Owney contest by going to the Postal Museum’s Facebook page and uploading a photo of your dog.

(Photos: Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum)

Trooper, the pit bull found bleeding, duct taped in a bag and left for dead in a Washington D.C. dumpster in August, continues to recuperate and will soon be available for adoption.

“She’s nearing the completion of her rehabilitation and we anticipate she’ll be entering an adoption program real soon,” Scott Giacoppo of the Washington Humane Society told the Washington City Paper.

A resident of an apartment building in southeast Washington was throwing her trash into a dumpster when she found the dog, sticking her head out of a bag. The Washington Humane Society took the dog to Friendship Hospital for Animals, where she was treated.

Investigators believe Trooper was used as a “bait” animal by dogfighters.

After surgeries and treatment, Trooper left the hospital in October (when the report above appeared), for months of therapy at a facility that specializes in the emotional rehabilitation of abused animals.

The Washington Humane Society is still offering a $1500 reward for anyone who has information leading to an arrest in the case.

The Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington is hosting a fundraiser today for Trooper, the dog who was rescued from a dumpster after losing a dog fight.

The event will feature tours, games for children, face painting, raffles and more. It starts at 11 a.m. at the Friendship Hospital for Animals, 4105 Brandywine Street, NW.

The dog was found barely alive, duct taped inside a trash bag. Washington Humane Society officials said the dog had apparently been discarded after being used in a dogfight.

Veterinarians in Washington DC are nursing a dog back to health after it was found barely alive, duct taped inside a trash bag and tossed into a dumpster.

Dubbed “Trooper” by the Washington Humane Society’s Eve Russell, the dog was found swollen, scarred and bloody, apparently having been dumped in a trash receptacle outside an apartment complex after a dogfight.

The dog was taken to surgery immediately, and veterinarians say more could be required.

“I was in a bit of disbelief when the dispatcher was describing to me what it sounded like the witnesses were seeing. And when I got to the scene it was even worse than I had been expecting and I was shocked. It was probably one of the most pathetic things i’ve ever seen,“ said Russell.

The Washington Humane Society is offering a $1,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

Soldiers recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and homeless dogs at the Washington Humane Society are helping each other out.

The arrangement — the dogs and soldiers get together twice a week at the Washington Humane Society — is producing benefits for both, according to an Army press release.

The soldiers get some time out of the hospital, and something to get their minds off their injuries. They take classes in animal behavior, learn grooming and practice training dogs. The dogs, meanwhile, get some attention and, through the training, become more adoptable.

The program got its start last spring when volunteers walking dogs for the Washington Humane Society — located across the street from Walter Reed’s main gate — noticed how patients would brighten up when the dogs came buy.

“They’re right across the street and we have an entire campus of recovering soldiers who have a lot of time in their days for the most part, and we have a lot of dogs and animals who need that extra human interaction and training and companionship,” Kevin Simpson of the Humane Society said. ”So it was just seeing that need and figuring out a way to put the two together.”

“We’ve learned how to make dogs sit, recognize their names, how to heel, how to leave things alone without bothering it. Just a lot of training of dogs and their reactions and personalities,” said Staff Sgt. Ladeaner Williams after completing a lesson in dog agility and guiding dogs through a series of obstacles.

Williams is undergoing treatment at Walter Reed for post traumatic stress disorder. She thought that working with the dogs would be a good way to develop her interest in becoming a veterinarian. The dogs also have the added benefit of helping her relax.

“I look forward to this every Tuesday and Thursday,” she explained. “The dogs look forward to it. It’s kind of sad. You train the dogs and you come back the next week and they may be adopted, so you don’t get to work with them again. But it’s nice to know that they are being adopted and that the training is paying off.”

(Footnote: A staff member at the Washington Humane Society reports that a dog she impounded was adopted by a graduate of the “Dog Tags” program. “They’re making each other’s lives better than they ever could have been otherwise. The dog was sure to die (as five of her puppies had) where she had been left before I found her, and her dad has found a new reason to get up in the morning.”)

 (US Army photo by Elizabeth M. Collins)