The public uproar over the shooting of a dog at the Adams Morgan Day festival last weekend doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. A vigil for the dog has been planned for tonight at 8 p.m. outside of 2311 18th Street NW, in order to “focus on all the positive and happy moments of Parrot’s life.” (Organizers are asking people to not bring political messages to the vigil.)

Meanwhile, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, the organization that housed Parrot before the animal was placed into “foster care,” has been organizing efforts to pepper police with emails regarding the situation, while at the same time, making the case that the Metropolitan Police Department should invest in a canine force continuum. The publicity push seems to be working — we’ve received word from people who have emailed the police, only to receive back this automated, unsigned response.

The Metropolitan Police Department has received your e-mail.  There has been an extraordinary amount of inquires into the shooting of a dog in Adams Morgan this weekend.  As such, I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you where we stand now.  First let me say, as a dog owner, I too am concerned by the shooting.

I don’t know all of the specifics at this point, so it is very difficult for me to comment on any details beyond the fact that it is alleged that a Pit Bull mix attacked another dog and purportedly was showing aggression towards others to include an MPD officer.  The facts are still not certain and should become increasingly clear as our investigation into this continues.

I am thankful that officers were in the immediate area at the time, and that no other bystanders, including children, were hurt in this incident.

The officer involved is a K9 Handler and regularly handles a very large dog.

Rest assured, in an effort to train our officers on the proper interactions with animals, I have added extensive training, formulated with the assistance of the DC Humane Society and many other animal welfare groups, to our annual officer recertification course. This course emphasizes how to deal with dogs, read their body language, learn how to recognize danger and warning signs, and attempt to diffuse potentially hazardous situations.

As far as the shooting this weekend, let me assure you that anytime an officer discharges their service weapon, the Metropolitan Police Department conducts a thorough investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident, and this case will be no different.  The Department will review police actions leading up to the shooting, witness statements from those on the scene, and forensic evidence to conclude the validity of the officer’s actions.

I have five rescue dogs at home as part of my family, and I love them dearly.  I ask for your patience as we conduct an investigation into this matter, and we will brief the public on the findings when it is complete.

That certainly reads like it was written in the voice of Chief Cathy Lanier (especially the last paragraph), but we couldn’t confirm whether those were simply the Chief’s words or whether it was an official statement on behalf of the department. What the message does prove, however, is that there’s enough people pestering MPD about the incident that they felt the need to put up an automated response — definitely not something you see every day.