District Dogs to pay $100K following flooding deaths last year

State of play: The settlement is the result of the D.C. Attorney General's Office's investigation into District Dogs, which found that the business misled owners regarding their pets' safety at the Rhode Island Avenue location.

• District Dogs publicly told owners their pets would be safe despite prior flooding and internal concerns about future floods, the investigation found.
• The group also didn't have an evacuation or weather monitoring plan in place, and employees weren't properly trained for emergencies, per the investigation.

Zoom in: In addition to paying a fine, the settlement requires that District Dogs take emergency preparedness steps like getting a risk management certificate for all D.C. locations, develop emergency and evacuation plans and train staff for such situations.

• Plus: It must keep its Rhode Island Avenue site closed for good.

Context: Some families of the dogs that died in last year's flood opened their own private lawsuit against District Dogs earlier this year, which is still ongoing, per the OAG.