Indy's animal shelter works to reduce capacity after years at critical levels

Indianapolis's animal shelter is working to reduce capacity, which has been critical for years. A recent adoption event was aimed at reducing numbers, while other changes for Indianapolis Animal Care Services are also underway.

Dogs in crates lined a large warehouse on Indianapolis’s northwest side. Volunteers helped prospective pet parents meet and greet with the dozens of animals up for adoption.

Tiffany Palmer and her family adopted Webster.

"It's our top priority to hit shelters first, any kind of rescue," Palmer said. "Our main love is for pits. We take anything with fur and four legs, but we really kind of connect with pits. [We] feel that they're a little misunderstood, and they're great dogs."

A majority of the dogs at the adoption event were pit bull mixes. That can be a barrier to successful adoption.

Volunteer Melissa Gingerich walked around the event with Hugh, who wore an ‘adopt me’ harness and happily greeted everyone.

"He's a great dog," Gingerich said. "The only downside is that there is the perception that black dogs are bad and they're not. They're just as great as any other dog."

The shelter has limited intake for about a month, and set up a new population management plan that aims to keep capacity at around 80 percent.

The city plans to build a new animal shelter, planned to open in 2026. Overcrowding at the current facility has been an issue, but IASC Deputy Director Kelly Diamond said it has been getting better.

"If you've been to our shelter, you've seen the hallways lined and every office, and you know our front adoption lobby, we have no more crates with dogs living in them," Diamond said.

The city has tried to ramp up adoption efforts in recent weeks to drive down numbers. Late last month there were still 230 dogs at the shelter with more than 180 up for adoption.

At least five dogs found forever homes on the first day of the adoptions event. Diamond said the reduction in the number of animals also helps staff.

“Have that wiggle room and not put us in such a stressful place. That's our goal,” Diamond said. “Once we get there, we can kind of work on maintaining it and improving some other processes so that we don't get to the situation that we were in before.”

The new city budget recently approved a measure that makes IASC its own agency with more than a million in added funding. The agency said its budget needs have grown about 50 percent since 2017.

Contact WFYI city government and policy reporter Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org.