Roger Horowitz was out Friday, ripping down flyers he posted about his missing dog, Ollie -- not because the dog has been found, but because he's afraid of being hit with the huge fine.
Horowitz and his wife, Annemarie, had recently adopted Ollie, a rescue dog that had been shot in Georgia.
"He'd been abused by his previous owner and actually shot with a shotgun," Horowitz said. "So he has about 23 pellets still in his back."
On March 30, Horowitz was walking Ollie near Georgia Avenue and Euclid Street NW when the dog broke loose.
"A car just backfired, and he suddenly just bolted and managed to get away with the leash," he said.
He filed a missing dog report, and said he was initially encouraged by police to post flyers. Volunteers helped put out thousands of them -- but then a phone call changed everything
The couple said they got a call from a D.C. officer, saying the signs had to come down or they'd face a hefty fine
"So he told me that regardless if we put up the flyers, or if other people put them up, we had made the original flyer that had my phone number, and that we could get fined up to 750,000," Horowitz said.
News4 asked D.C. police about the sign rules and fines. Authorities said sent a list of regulations about posting flyers. The rules say that violations can result in a $300 fine. It's unclear if that's per sign.
The Horowitzes say they'd like to see the law change to help people looking for missing pets and loved ones. "It's kind of this big unknown, of what can we do next?" said Annemarie Horowit. "What should we do to find our dog?"
They hope their social media campaign, #FindOllie, will help them do just that.
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