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Arlington authorities asking the public for information about a dog put to sleep after found in the cold

Authorities in Arlington, Virginia, want the public’s help in finding the owner of an emaciated dog that was humanely put to sleep after being found outside in the cold this week.

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington said the dog was dropped off near the Walter Reed Community Center. A resident near the area on Walter Reed Drive found the dog around 8 p.m. on Wednesday and called the AWLA.

An officer responded to the location and found the dog was in extremely critical condition. He was transported to an emergency veterinary clinic.

“He was extremely underweight, emaciated and covered in sores,” said Spencer Murray, AWLA’s sergeant of Animal Control.

He said the dog wasn’t able to walk, but it was trying to crawl. Unfortunately, it was suffering from hypothermia and other injuries, and the decision was made to euthanize the animal.

The emergency team named the dog “Walter,” based on where he was found. He didn’t have any identifying tags, but was wearing a metal chain collar.

Now, Arlington County police are trying to find out where the dog came from and who may have dropped him off.

“We’re asking the public to check any sort of cameras that they may have on their house or any dash cameras on their car if they were driving by in that area,” Murray said.

Anyone with information is asked to call AWLA’s Animal Control team at 703-931-9241 or email them at animalcontrol@awla.org.

House approves aviation safety bill based on deadly midair collision near Washington

An aviation safety bill seeking to address lessons learned from last year’s midair collision of a jet with an Army helicopter near the nation’s capital was approved by the House Tuesday, but key senators and the families of the 67 victims think the bill still needs to be strengthened. The House bill, called the Alert Act, has the backing of key industry groups, but lawmakers will now have to try to find a compromise that will satisfy the Senate. The National Transportation Safety Board recently said that the legislation, since amended, now addresses its recommendation to require all aircraft flying around busy airports to have key locator systems that let pilots know more precisely where other aircraft are. The NTSB has been recommending the new technology systems since 2008, and Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has said such a system would have prevented the collision of the American Airlines jet and Army Black Hawk helicopter that sent both aircraft plunging into the icy Potomac River. Two key House committees unanimously advanced the bill last month. The bill was brought up for a full House vote under rules that didn't allow any amendments. But victims’ families said before the vote they want to make sure the bill has strict timelines to guarantee the reforms will be completed. And they worry the House bill would allow military flights to continue flying without broadcasting their locations on routine training flights and not just secret missions.
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