An emotional vigil was held in Northeast D.C. on Thursday for the 10 dogs lost during Monday鈥檚 flooding at the District Dogs day care facility.
鈥淥ur community is mourning,鈥� said event organizer Alyssa Weiner Sandler.
Weiner Sandler, who runs the Instagram page , said the Northeast community of dog owners was shaken to its core by the sudden and unexpected loss. They gathered in Alethia Tanner Park to grieve together.
鈥淎 lot of us bring our dogs to District Dogs,” she told 草莓传媒. “There鈥檚 this sense it could鈥檝e been us.鈥�
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Many couples, families and friends 鈥� some no longer accompanied by their pets 鈥� were brought to tears as, one by one, community members spoke about the unimaginable tragedy they had experienced.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very easy to say ‘this should鈥檝e happened, or that should鈥檝e happened,'” Weiner Sandler said. “I think we鈥檒l find is that the truth is a little blurred within there.鈥�
She said that while many questions remain, Thursday’s memorial was not about finding answers.
鈥淥ur purpose here is to let the other chatter go, and to let this be what the community needed, which is just a cathartic grouping together,鈥� Weiner Sandler said.
鈥淲e are just here to show our solidarity because of such a tragedy that happened,鈥� said Joe Lucas, who told 草莓传媒 he’s been a client at District Dogs for years, with multiple pets having stayed at the facility.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been customers at District Dogs since they had just one location in Parkview, with our previous Basset Hounds,” he explained.
鈥淚t’s just unimaginable,” he said of Monday’s flooding. “I cannot imagine being one of those doggy parents who had to go through that, or even [the owner of District Dogs], or any of his employees.鈥�
Lucas said his current Basset Hound, three-year-old Theodora, wasn鈥檛 there Monday when floodwaters poured into the facility, but the thought that it could鈥檝e just as easily been him mourning the loss of a best friend was haunting.
鈥淚 texted friends who I know go there, to see if they had their dogs there at the time, because it鈥檚 a very scary and real thing,鈥� he recounted.
Lucas also said it鈥檚 hard to put into words how people must feel about the whole situation, which is wrapped in controversy over how much could have been done to prevent what happened.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people who want to know, and there are not a lot of answers yet,鈥� he said.
But he, like Weiner Sandler, said Thursday鈥檚 vigil had one main purpose for their community.
鈥淛ust give the people who have experienced loss a little bit of peace,” he said.
