14-03-2025
Meet Liars B Lying and Dumpster Buffet: How RACC names rescues
Christie Chipps Peters is in a constant state of trying to find the good.
It's what keeps her team at Richmond Animal Care and Control from giving in to the "ugly and the heartbreaking things we see," she says.
Just this year, that's included finding a German Shepherd shot in the nose, animals left for dead off Riverside Drive, abandoned cats in containers and a 13-year-old dog whose owner was killed.
"Some days are hard and people scream at us and animals suffer and die and we just can't fix all the things," RACC wrote in a post last month.
Yes, but: They've found the good in something as simple as a name, says Peters, RACC's director.
The big picture: If you scroll RACC's Facebook or Instagram, the animals of 1600 Chamberlayne Ave. usually have funny names, mostly courtesy of the shelter's staff — and that's on purpose.
There's Dumpster Buffet, who got his name because he was having a buffet at a dumpster near Westover Hills.
Uneeda Biscuit, described as a "big 'ol blockhead," was cranky and in need of a biscuit when he first arrived, Peters tells Axios.
There was also a snippy black-and-white Pomeranian named "Puff Puff Bite Bite" because he was mean and "just a puff puff that's gonna bite bite," Peters says.
Zoom in: They've had a rooster named Coq Au Vin. a pitbull called Double Cheeked Up and Judge Judy, a beagle-dachshund mix found roaming the courthouse.
By the numbers: RACC takes in anywhere between 3,000 and 3,500 animals a year, Peters says.
It's been 242 animals so far this year, and about half have either been adopted or returned to their owner.
And RACC names them all, including our favorite dog: Liars B Lying.
What they're saying: There's been an increase in people from surrounding counties lying to RACC by bringing their own pet and saying it's a stray they found in the city, Peters explained.
Staff got so sick of it that they made it one of the surrendered dogs' names.
"It feels good to say it, it feels good to see it in print," she says. "We know liars be lying!"
What's next: RACC is always looking for name inspiration, so if you have one you think they should use, share it and we'll pass it along.
