Kennels full of feces. Flies buzzing around dogs’ faces. Newborn kittens dying in their cages.
That’s how dozens of shelter volunteers described life for animals at Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) to city officials on Wednesday night.
In an unusual but welcome move for animal welfare advocates, the Community Affairs Committee opened the floor for further discussion after they’d already voted in January to approve Kelly Diamond as the permanent director of the city-run IACS shelter.
Diamond has served as the agency’s interim director since February 2023. Before she joined IACS, Diamond was the director of clinic services at IndyHumane, where she’d also served as an adoption manager and intake coordinator.
Diamond’s appointment was set to be confirmed by the full City-County Council earlier this month. But days before the final vote, shelter management cut evening volunteer shifts, reducing dogs’ bathroom breaks to once per 24 hours, prompting protest.
More than a dozen people turned out at that confirmation vote, and the City-County Council unanimously agreed to send her nomination back to the committee to gather more information.
The audience was packed at Wednesday’s meeting, which began with statements from Diamond and several of her staffers, who said the administration must navigate complicated moral decisions amidst an overpopulation crisis.
Diamond said volunteers’ hours were cut over liability concerns. Staff shifts were moved around to accommodate more visiting hours for the public, and volunteers can’t be present without management staff.
“We value the positive contributions from our volunteers, and we also value their safety,” Diamond said. “We simply cannot ask our staff to stay any later.”
Rather than hiring more managers, Diamond said IACS is focusing on filling critical staff positions like an on-site veterinarian. The hours will be revisited once a new volunteer coordinator is hired, she added.
“You will hear from individuals tonight who wish to highlight areas where progress has been slow, or not aligned with their expectations. To this I offer one remark: we are painfully aware of how much work remains,” said Kelly Laroche, deputy director of policy and planning for IACS.
Councilors acknowledged that IACS leadership is dealing with a “sinking ship,” but encouraged the administration to be more open to feedback and support from the community.
“What I see when I see all these people — and what I’ve heard in emails — is there is a massive volunteer pool available to help you,” Councilor Hart said to audience applause. “What I would encourage you to consider is: how do you create a policy within your organization to utilize all these folks that are in this room?”
Dozens spoke against Diamond’s leadership
More than 40 people spoke to the committee during public comment on Wednesday night. Not a single one was in support of Diamond.
Volunteers described policy changes that resulted in inhumane conditions for the animals and a hostile work environment for their caretakers.
Katie Hall, a former volunteer, showed the council a picture of a white and black dog.
“This is Luna. Luna is alive because a dedicated volunteer found her in a pool of blood on a Monday evening,” Hall said, flipping to an image of a floor soaked in feces and blood. “I shudder to think how many Lunas will go unnoticed now that volunteers are barred from the premises outside of business hours.”
IACS has operated at or above capacity for years. The current building wasn’t intended to house animals in the long term, and the city broke ground on a new shelter facility in June 2024. It will be about three times as large as the current building.
To mitigate overcrowding in the interim, last year IACS began only taking in animals by appointment unless they’re sick, injured or aggressive. At Wednesday’s meeting, Diamond said it’s a more humane policy for staff and animals. Wait times are about two weeks for owner surrender and four weeks for stray drop-offs, she said.
“Many of these animals can’t be managed in a controlled shelter environment, but we are asking them to safely manage them in their homes,” said Alyssa Lewis, co-founder of Peaceful Souls Animal Rescue and Recovery. “This is leaving citizens with two choices: figure it out on your own or let them go back out in the streets.”
IACS took in about 8,000 animals in 2024, down from more than 15,000 in 2019, according to city statistics. Leaders from other animal welfare organizations said Wednesday night that they’ve seen a recent uptick in intakes that they attribute to that policy.
“In 2024, our taxpayers spent $754,000 to pay for your animals,” said Rebecca Stevens, the president and CEO of the Humane Society for Hamilton County.
The lack of background checks for potential adoptees was another concern raised throughout the meeting. Indiana’s online court records system, MyCase, used to be checked for a recent history of violent crimes against people and animals. That policy changed under Diamond.
“While it will show any animal-related incidents that have occurred, it shows a lot of other information about an individual that is not relevant,” Diamond said Wednesday, adding that adoption counselors have an internal system that can see information about animal offenses in Marion County.
Following the more than 90 minutes of critical comments, Councilor Michael Hart asked Diamond if she would like to respond.
“I think it’s been a lot…a lot of inaccuracies, and a lot of accusations, character assassinations. It’s a lot right now for me to be able to comment on,” Diamond said.
Hart told IndyStar that as a matter of technicality, the Community Affairs Committee won’t be able to change its formal favorable recommendation of Diamond. But that recommendation isn’t binding, and city-county councilors present at Wednesday’s meeting will be able to relay the public’s concerns to the full council, which could affect the final vote.
On March 3, the full City-County Council will decide whether or not to approve Diamond as the permanent director. The public won’t be able to comment at that meeting, but protestors said they plan to attend.
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at (317) 800-2956 or rhmurphy@indystar.com.
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