Interior Department Doggy Day Records

Sarah Emerson filed this request with the Department of the Interior of the United States of America.
Tracking #

OS-2017-00527

Status
Rejected

Communications

From: Sarah Emerson

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

### BACKGROUND ###

In March, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced a new initiative at the agency called "Doggy Days at the Interior." (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/23/in-a-first-for-the-government-dogs-will-be-welcome-at-the-interior-department/?utm_term=.00676ba7b43b) This pilot program will allow DC-based Interior employees to bring their dogs to work on certain days of the month.

### REQUEST ###

I hereby request the following records:

All records—defined as emails, memos, presentations, social media guidelines, and meeting minutes—regarding the Interior Department's "Doggy Days" initiative, started by Secretary Ryan Zinke, between March 2, 2017 until the time this record is processed. Keywords may include: "Doggy Days," "Doggy Day" "Dog Day," and "bring your dog to work." Please include all relevant attachments.

In order to help to determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am a journalist writing for Motherboard, VICE's technology and science site, and that this request is being made as part of news gathering.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. They will be used in the course of my reporting for Motherboard (www.motherboard.vice.com).

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request, and I ask that this be processed in the "media" fee category. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Sarah Emerson

From: OS, OS FOIA

Dear Ms. Emerson

We are waiting to receive records from our program office in response to
your request. Once we receive these records, we can begin processing these
records and provide them to you as quickly as possible. Hope that you have
a great day!
Thanks,

Cindy

--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Sarah Emerson

Great! Thanks so much, Cindy.

Best,
Sarah

From: OS, OS FOIA

Dear Ms. Emerson,

To clarify, the follow up that I provided on July 5th was in reference to
OS-2017-00527 (Doggy Days request). I just wanted to make sure to clarify
as it appears that we received another follow up for this request. Please
let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks,
Cindy

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 5, 2017 at 5:03 AM
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Request: Interior Department Doggy Day
Records
To: osfoia@ios.doi.gov

July 5, 2017
Department of the Interior
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary
Ray McInerney
MS-116, SIB
1951 Constitution Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20240

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request,
copied below, and originally submitted on May 5, 2017. Please let me know
when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is
needed.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

---

On June 5, 2017:
Great! Thanks so much, Cindy.

Best,
Sarah
---

On June 5, 2017:
Dear Ms. Emerson

We are waiting to receive records from our program office in response to
your request. Once we receive these records, we can begin processing these
records and provide them to you as quickly as possible. Hope that you have
a great day!
Thanks,

Cindy

--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax
---

On June 5, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request,
copied below, and originally submitted on May 5, 2017. Please let me know
when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is
needed.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

---

On May 5, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

### BACKGROUND ###

In March, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced a new initiative at the
agency called "Doggy Days at the Interior." (https://www.washingtonpost.co
m/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/23/in-a-first-for-the-government
-dogs-will-be-welcome-at-the-interior-department/?utm_term=.00676ba7b43b)
This pilot program will allow DC-based Interior employees to bring their
dogs to work on certain days of the month.

### REQUEST ###

I hereby request the following records:

All records—defined as emails, memos, presentations, social media
guidelines, and meeting minutes—regarding the Interior Department's "Doggy
Days" initiative, started by Secretary Ryan Zinke, between March 2, 2017
until the time this record is processed. Keywords may include: "Doggy
Days," "Doggy Day" "Dog Day," and "bring your dog to work." Please include
all relevant attachments.

In order to help to determine my status to assess fees, you should know
that I am a journalist writing for Motherboard, VICE's technology and
science site, and that this request is being made as part of news gathering.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes. They will be used
in the course of my reporting for Motherboard (www.motherboard.vice.com).

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform
me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request, and I ask that
this be processed in the "media" fee category. I would prefer the request
filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Sarah Emerson

------
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------

--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Sarah Emerson

Hi Cindy,

Sorry about that! I think the FOIA service I use, MuckRock, automatically sent a check-in email. Please disregard.

Thanks so much,
Sarah

From: OS, OS FOIA

Dear Ms. Emerson,

As we responded on August 2, 2017, we are still waiting on records from our
program office in response to your request. Once we receive these records,
we can begin processing these records and provide them to you as quickly as
possible. Hope that you have a great day!
Thanks,
Cindy

--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: OS, OS FOIA

Dear Ms. Emerson,

We appreciate your inquiry. Currently, we are waiting on some of the
program offices to provide records. Please be assured that once we receive
these records, we will begin processing them and provide
them to you as quickly as possible. Hope that you have a great day!

V/r,

Leah
--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: OS, OS FOIA

Dear Ms. Emerson,

RE: OS-2017-00527

In response, we are still pending receipt of responsive records from two
more individuals. We are working arduously to wrap up the coordination and
collection of these records. Please know we must receive all records
before processing the records to identify information applicable to any of
the FOIA exemptions.

Thank you for contacting our office.

-Karmen
--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Department of the Interior

Dear Ms. Emerson,

We are still coordinating with the program office to receive all documents
before we can begin processing. Please be assured we are following up
regularly
and will begin processing as soon as we have all potentially responsive
records.
Thanks,

Cindy

--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Department of the Interior

Dear Ms. Emerson,

We have received some records. However we are still waiting to receive
more records from the program office before we can begin processing.

Thank you for contacting our office.
We are working as expeditiously as possible.

Karmen
--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Department of the Interior

Dear Ms. Emerson,

RE: OS-2017-00527

Please know that we are still waiting to receive responsive records from
the program office. Please know we must receive all records before
starting to process.

We are working as expeditiously as possible.

Thank you for contacting our office.

-Karmen
--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Department of the Interior

Dear Ms. Emerson,

RE: OS-2017-00527

Please know that we are still waiting to receive all records pertaining to
your request from the program office.

We are working as expeditiously as possible.

Thank you for contacting our office.

-Karmen
--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Department of the Interior

Dear Ms. Emerson,

Thank you for your inquiry. At this time we are still waiting on a program
office to send us any potentially responsive records as we do
not retain records in the OS FOIA office. Once we have those records, we
can begin processing them. While we cannot provide you a timeline at this
point, please be assured we are working to complete your request as
promptly as we can.
Thanks,

Cindy Sweeney

--
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240
os_foia@ios.doi.gov
(202) 513-0765 - phone
(202) 219-2374 - fax

From: Department of the Interior

Dear Ms. Emerson,

I've recently been assigned to a request you submitted on May 5, 2017,
seeking records related to the "Doggy Days at the Interior." There is a
substantial number of records and I'm reaching out to determine if your are
still interested in receiving these records and/or if are you interesting
in narrowing your request. Please let me know.

Please feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

Thank you!
--
Laura Garcia Hinojosa
Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary, FOIA Office
1849 C Street, NW, MS-7328
Washington, D.C. 20240

lhinojosa@blm.gov

From: Sarah Emerson

Hi Laura,

Yes, I'm still interested in receiving these records. Thanks so much.

Best,
Sarah

From: Department of the Interior

DOI-OS-2017-000115 has been processed with the following final disposition: Other.

Files

There are no files associated with this request.