Looking for a dog rescue organization in Washington DC area

March 5, 2017 9:33 AM

My brother is looking for a companion animal, specifically a dog that weighs 25 pounds or less (due to his apartment's regulations). Can anyone suggest a rescue organization in the Washington, DC area that he could connect with? Thanks.
posted by sacrifix to Pets & Animals (7 answers total)

This is more the Virginia suburbs outside of D.C., but I highly recommend Lost Dog. I have a friend who has volunteered with them for a long time and have heard nothing but great things about them.
posted by brilliantine at 9:46 AM on March 5, 2017

I highly recommend both City Dogs Rescue and the Humane Rescue Alliance. CDR has a higher number of dogs, but HRA has a physical facility where he can go and meet dogs in person before adopting.
posted by sallybrown at 10:22 AM on March 5, 2017

I adopted my cat from City Dogs! They're a great org and are good at matching you with an animal that fits your personality and lifestyle.
posted by capricorn at 11:09 AM on March 5, 2017

You don't say where in the DC area your brother is , but I recommend Small Miracles Cat & Dog Rescue in Ellicott City, MD.
posted by Rob Rockets at 3:31 PM on March 5, 2017

My sister in DC used the Brierwoods Fido rescue program, which is in PA but near enough to work. The dogs are rescued, then receive obedience training at a therapeutic prison program, and then are adopted out.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:40 PM on March 5, 2017

Homeward Trails brought us two beloved dogs. But if he looks on Petfinder and sets the location, he will be able to browse actual dogs across all of the local rescues. He probably wants at least a two year old dog, because it will be easier and more reliable to learn about their personality and he will know they are full grown. Our new puppy was supposed to max out at 40 pounds like her mother, but I'm pretty sure she's past that already at 5 months. Homeward Trails will do a "trial adoption" where they'll hold the adoption fee check for a few weeks to be sure it's a good match.
posted by instamatic at 4:39 PM on March 5, 2017

I am going to recommend that he avoid Lucky Dog. We adopted our dog from them and she had two major undisclosed issues that could have been known if they had done a reasonable checkup with a stethoscope and a fecal sample. Our dog had 5 organs above her diaphragm crowding her heart and she also had a distinct type of tapeworm. While I wouldn't trade our dog for anything it was a nasty surprise to sink a ton of money into medical treatments right after we adopted her and Lucky Dog was less than sympathetic when we mentioned what was up.

By contrast, I have heard very good things about PG country animal management division and they generally have a bunch of smaller dogs. Their available dogs can be found on http://petharbor.com/

I also second the Humane Rescue Alliance.
posted by donut_princess at 1:48 PM on March 6, 2017