(Updated at 3:55 p.m.) A local bald eagle stretched its wings for the first time in over a month when it got released at Burke Lake Park this past weekend.
The adult, male bird was found in Fairfax Station on Dec. 23 by Fairfax County Animal Protection Police officers, who were responding to a call for service. In addition to being “underweight,” the eagle had head injuries and “a deep laceration on a leg,” according to the Fairfax County Police Department.
Fairfax County wants to consolidate the duties of its Department of Animal Sheltering (DAS) and Animal Protection Police (APP).
Under the new arrangement, DAS would oversee both animal care services and enforcement of animal protection laws, which would be carried out by animal control officers (ACO), according to the recommendation from DAS and the Fairfax County Police Department.
(Updated at 8:30 p.m.) Several people have reported the sighting of a bear near Home Depot in Reston.
In a tweet, Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn warned residents of a bear sighting near the hardware store at 1651 Reston Parkway. A representative for Alcorn’s office said the Reston Police District received several reports.
A dog was chained up and shot this morning in the residential neighborhood behind the Woodlawn Shopping Center in Mount Vernon, police say.
Officers responded to the area of Bedford Terrace and Beekman Place at 3:35 a.m. after getting a call that there was a dog chained to a fence, according to the Fairfax County Police Department. Upon arriving, they discovered the animal had a gunshot wound.
A stray llama who was caught running on Fairfax County Parkway in the Fairfax Station area over the weekend has been reunited with her owner, the county’s animal shelter says.
Kolby, a 20-year-old female llama, was caught by Fairfax County Animal Protection Police near Popes Head Road Sunday evening (Dec. 18) after escaping her enclosure.
Pickles, a rescue cat, was trapped in a stormwater drain at Lake Anne in Reston for almost a week.
Her owners unsuccessfully tried to get him out after he became stuck on Dec. 4, his mews audible through a manhole.
The black bear spotted wandering past the Adaire Apartments in Tysons on Sunday (Oct. 30) is the same one seen in Vienna, Reston and other parts of Fairfax County earlier this fall, police say.
The animal has been active in the county for about two months now, traveling in the Vienna, Oakton, McLean, Reston and Fairfax areas, according to Katherine Edwards, the Fairfax County Police Department’s wildlife management specialist.
(Updated at 6 p.m.) Tysons got an unexpected visitor this weekend in the form of an apparently solo black bear.
The animal was spotted ambling along the Boyd Pointe Way sidewalk outside the Adaire Apartments in a video shared on Twitter last night by FOX5 reporter Angie Goff. She said it was seen on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 1521 Boyd Pointe Way.
When Fairfax County’s new animal shelter opens next year, some of its first residents will likely come from across jurisdictional lines.
Last week, the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with the City of Fairfax to provide services and housing to animals under their care. The city cares for fewer than 100 animals a year. In 2021, it cared for 31 dogs, 20 cats, and 11 other small animals.
A pig that found its way to a local business that happen to be trained in proper swine handling has been returned to his owner.
The pig was caught by staff at Nalls Produce, a garden center located in the Kingstowne area, which turned the loose community pig to the county’s animal control division.
