Nico Dauphiné, the National Zoo researcher and "Apocalypse Meow" author who was arrested and accused of poisoning feral cats around Meridian Hill Park earlier this year, was found guilty on animal cruelty charges in D.C. Superior Court today. more ›

Nico Dauphiné, the National Zoo researcher who allegedly set out food laced with rat poison and antifreeze to kill off the population of feral cats which lingers around Meridian Hill Park, had the chance to defend herself in court yesterday. more ›

We here at DCist love our animals, particularly those who can use a helping hand. Unfortunately, I doubt DCist HQ can adopt all these furballs. I've seen our editor-in-chief's apartment and it's a tad too small to accommodate. But this weekend there will be plenty of cats and dogs available for adoption across the area, as two local organizations are holding adoption events to cap off the coming end of the summer. more ›

This morning, we told you about a researcher at the National Zoo who stands accused of poisoning feral cats near Meridian Hill Park. The commentariat proceeded to explode. And people are noticing! more ›

The NFL's second most reviled quarterback is in D.C. today, the Associated Press is reporting, in order to speak to local youngsters about how dogfighting is bad. Michael Vick has been making appearances like this in cities around the country since he was released from prison after being convicted of running a dogfighting ring in Smithfield, Va., as part of a Humane Society campaign against the sport. His talk will take place at Covenant Baptist Church in Southwest this afternoon, where a group of area students have been invited to listen. Hopefully any hardcore Redskins fans in the audience have already had their spirits crushed to the point that Vick, now a member of the rival Philadelphia Eagles, won't get booed. more ›

After word got around Sunday night that several Metro stations had been temporarily closed due to dozens of dead birds appearing around them, Metro officials spent the day yesterday trying to figure out how to explain away the fact that the mistake their contractor had made was not that they had poisoned the birds -- merely that they had poisoned the birds at the wrong time of day, and didn't have a chance to clean... more ›

MONDAY As a part of its ongoing “Face It: We Are Probably All Going To Die or at the Very Least, Suffer Immeasurably” Series, Politics and Prose kicks off the week with a visit from Stephen Flynn, author of The Edge of Disaster, which, apparently, we are teetering on (cf. “all going to die,” “suffer immeasurably”). Also: CSI: Miami is on tonight! 5015 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 7 p.m. TUESDAY The art of letter writing is... more ›

The Humane Society of the United States has just released a new Humane Index of U.S. Cities. The site includes rankings for the top 25 most populous cities in the country, broken down by categories like number of retail shops that sell fur, or ratio of wildlife watchers to hunters, all presented in a pretty nifty interactive format that allows you to sort by category and compare one city to another. So how does D.C.... more ›

Hey D.C., how ya doin'? We've got some good news and some bad news for mother nature this morning, but it's all good news for you. Just nine days away from the official start of winter, Washington will enjoy another day of temperatures near 60. Remember these days when you're stomping through January snow. Potomac to Get Slightly Less Gross: Looks like the Army Corps of Engineers is finally getting around to meeting a 2003... more ›

You know the crazy cat lady that often appears on episodes of The Simpsons? The one who's always screaming gibberish and throwing cats at others? Apparently she and her ilk have a thing for the region. NBC 4 is reporting that 86 dogs and cats were removed from a Stafford Suffolk, Va., home where a married couple lived with their 12-year-old son. So bad were the conditions in the house -- none of the animals... more ›

If you don't like sweets and sparkling wine, you're a Communist. Well, you could be a diabetic-slash-recovering alcoholic, which is frankly the only understandable alternative explanation for not liking sweets and sparkling wine. For everyone else, Equinox's Todd and Ellen Gray are putting on their fourth annual Sugar and Champagne Affair on Wednesday night (Jan. 25) at the Ritz-Carlton at 22nd and M Streets NW. Benefiting the Washington Humane Society's Humane Law Enforcement Team (which,... more ›

Good morning, Washington. Now that the National Zoo has doled out public tickets, more photos of the baby panda are appearing online. Flickr user guy_incognito has uploaded an adorable set of photos of Butterstick/Tai Shan. Although we don't want to make you too jealous, this DCist will be taking a peek today. Turning to the news, yesterday was one of those days when all kinds of odd news improbably happens on the same day. What... more ›

Fall catalogs are quickly cramming our mailbox and "Back to Cool" commercials are again making schoolchildren cringe, but the frizz-inducing weather reminds us with a humid slap each morning that it's still summer. Celebrate the sweaty mess that is a D.C. summer at the Midcity Dog Days of August, a sidewalk sale and festival spanning the U and 14th Street NW corridors this Saturday and Sunday. More than 50 businesses are participating in the sixth... more ›

It's been a while since we've checked in with the Post's Animal Watch desk, but this week's list in the District weekly is filled with stuff that is more comical than the normally depressing examples of animal neglect. We perhaps shouldn't be laughing, but we find the mixture of detailed and semi-vague information from the reports to make for good reading. Oh the twisted irony in this one on Capitol Hill: Humane Society officers removed... more ›

District animal officials interrupted a plan by a Park Road woman to �sacrifice� two chickens to mark the anniversary of her father�s death. According to the Post, the Humane Society found three sickly chickens in a dirty cage. Two had their feet bound, the other had an eye injury. Records show that the woman was cited for keeping chickens in dirty cages three years ago. Though the incident is odd, it isn't as strange as... more ›

DCist was shocked to see this peculiar entry in the Post's Animal Report. Devoid of contextual detail, it makes us wonder what exactly is going on in the Fort Totten woods. Police reported that a male lamb had been found in the woods, in a small crate soiled with feces. A Humane Society officer found the animal and a group of men. A candle, a bottle of liquor and a bottle of barbecue sauce were... more ›