INDIANAPOLIS — The ball is rolling on a strategic plan aimed at improving the health, safety, and quality of life for dogs and cats in Marion County.
Advocates tell us this comes at a time when there is an increasing number of animals with no homes and limited capacity at our city’s shelter.
Jason Wendt comes home every day to be greeted by 120 pounds of fur and joy.
“I call him my little slobbery gentle giant because no matter what, he just wants to cuddle,” Wendt said.
He adopted his Pyrenees Harry last year from a local shelter, a decision he didn’t make lightly.
“I thought it was important to give extra life into another animal because oftentimes they don’t live that long so you just wanna give them the best experience you can,” he said.
Animal welfare organizations in Indianapolis say our city has a crisis: there are more stray and unwanted animals out on the streets and not enough places for them to go.
“They’re not getting the care they need, they’re getting injured, they’re getting hit by cars, they are starving, they’re freezing. It’s endless,” Alyssa Lewis with Peaceful Souls Animal Rescue and Recovery said.
Lewis has been saving animals from Indy streets for over a decade.
“I have pulled more dogs and puppies out of crawl spaces than I have in the entire 12 years I’ve done this,” she said.
Her organization is one of nine that have collaborated to create a community-wide five-year strategic plan to improve animal welfare in Indianapolis and Marion County.
It’s called Operation Indy Animals.
“We have to get things into place to be able to help our animals and be able to 1) get them off the streets. Get them safe refuge. Get them medical care and allow our public to have the knowledge of what to do,” Lewis said.
Friends of Indianapolis Dogs Outside, or FIDO, is another organization working on the plan.
“Dog should not be left on the street,” Darcie Kurtz with FIDO said.
There are 5 goals to the plan.
They are:
- Improve pet care and retention. That could look like Increasing access to spaying and neutering, routine care, and emergency treatment.
- Increased community education and active engagement. That includes the creation of a virtual hub of information.
- Coordinated rescue, shelter and adoption services. That includes the creation of a community-wide system of entry for all unwanted and stray animals.
- Stronger legislation and enforcement. Enact enforceable animal welfare laws that are effective in reducing overpopulation.
- Clear leadership, accountability and sustainability. That includes establishing working groups to implement the plan.
“We’d like to keep animals in the home. That’s the first thing, but if there’s no place for them, they need to go into a shelter. They need safe haven. Leaving animals on the street is not an option,” Kurtz said.
The board is establishing working groups of dedicated locals who will be part of the team to implement the plan.
They hope to have a virtual hub of information up and running by the end of the year.
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