I speak for the hundreds of sick, injured, and abused animals who pass through the Washington Humane Society’s doors each year in saying that the animals of our city have no greater friends than Dr. Peter Glassman and Friendship Hospital for Animals (“More Than a Feline,” 5/27).

For two decades, the amazing staff at Friendship has contributed countless hours to the care of abandoned, injured, and abused animals. When a Humane Society officer walks through the doors of Friendship with a cat who has been casually thrown from an apartment window, we know that cat will receive the same world-class trauma care as the pet of the wealthiest pet owner in D.C. If a burned or starved dog needs a veterinarian to testify in court about her injuries, that dog can rest assured that Glassman will rearrange his schedule to be there.

The Friendship medical staff always cares for the sickest animals first, regardless of whether the animal comes from a Georgetown mansion or our New York Avenue shelter, and has donated a staggering amount of free and reduced-cost services to our organization and others in need. Beyond that medical care, Glassman and his team have testified or offered supporting evidence in virtually every successful animal-cruelty case prosecuted by the U.S. attorney in the District.

He and his staff have also shown their dedication in local schools by teaching children about respect and proper care for animals, as well as by creating and matching grants to the Friendship Fund, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for our animal-welfare programs. And Glassman offers all of his staff six days of paid community-service leave a year—an unheard-of amount of charitable free time for a local business owner to subsidize.

Unlike the Washington City Paper, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) recently got it right, when it awarded the veterinary team at Friendship its first annual award for animal services. And our city’s animals, if they could speak, would offer even higher praise in a chorus of barks and meows for the lifesaving work of the Friendship vets.

In short, Glassman and Friendship Hospital for Animals deserve our deepest gratitude and appreciation, not a one-sided hatchet job. The City Paper should be ashamed of itself.

President

Washington Humane Society