INDIANAPOLIS— Indianapolis Animal Care Services urged people to adopt dogs over the weekend to prevent dozens of dogs from being euthanized.
They asked for 60 dogs to be adopted to make space in the crowded shelter and were able to adopt out 24 dogs and return six animals.
More from our original report:
“Even with our managed intake process, we are consistently taking in 15 dogs on a daily basis,” IACS Deputy Director Katie Trennepohl said. “We have no more space and if we don’t have dogs adopted as early as tomorrow morning, we will have to start making some really tough decisions.”
IACS says the shelter currently has appointments to surrender pets booked though mid-April and animal control officers bring animals in 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which only adds to the over-population.
“This crisis is only going to get worse if the community doesn’t come in to adopt all of these great animals. Most, if not all of our dogs are already spayed or neutered, meaning they can go home the same day,” Deputy Director Trennepohl said.
The shelter is open for walk-in adoptions Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Adoptions are free and include spay/neuter, microchipping and all age-appropriate vaccines.
The shelter also offers adoption counselors that can help match families with the perfect pet for their lifestyle and a trial adoption program called Cuddle Before You Commit that allows you to foster an animal for 14 days to determine if they are the right fit.
To view all adoptable animals, click here.
IACS recommends other ways to help, if you are not able to adopt:
- Share their story. Share social media posts to help spread the word throughout the community.
- Needing to surrender? Try to rehome your own pets. You are your pet’s best advocate, and you can help make sure their new family is a good match. IACS has partnered with rehome.adoptapet.com to help you find potential adopters for your pets.
- If you can cancel your surrender intake appointment, please do so. Your pet will be at high risk for euthanasia.
- Do you need help with pet food, veterinary care, or behavioral training so that you can keep your pet? Please reach out to our Indy CARES team [indycares.org] to see if we have resources to help keep your pet with your family and out of the shelter.
- If you find a lost pet, please try to find the owners before contacting the shelter. Vet offices can scan the pet for a microchip. Post the animal on Indy Lost Pet Alert [indylostpetalert.com] and on your neighborhood social media sites. Walk around your neighborhood. We can’t stress this enough, do not bring a lost pet to the shelter. You will be turned away. We will not take the pet in without an appointment.
