Live reporting by
Kassandra Simcox
Regular meeting of the Indianapolis Animal Care Services Advisory Board.
Kassandra Simcox
@Its_KSimcox
Hello! I will be covering the "IACS Advisory Board Meeting" beginning at 6pm! @mirrorindy @indydocumenters
04:52 PM Oct 15, 2024 CDT
For those new to the topic: "The Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) Advisory Board identifies problems and needs of animal care services in the city". @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
What is FIDO? "FIDO (Friends of Indianapolis Dogs Outside) is an animal welfare non-profit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana that works to improve the lives of outside dogs". @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
The question of "How do we show the community that we are hearing and working to respond to each call/and or concern about animals throughout Indianapolis?" is raised in opening conversation. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
Public safety is a main priority to the board of IACS in regard to stray animals that the public may encounter throughout day-to-day activities. Ex: visiting parks, walking through neighborhoods, etc. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
Members of the board share that in order to handle all of the calls and concerns that the public calls in on a daily basis, that there needs to be more bodies (employees) involved to help make change happen faster. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
313 animals were reported to be adopted during the month of September. @indydocumenters @mirrorindy @indygov
There are currently 298 volunteers involved with IACS. That is a 44% increase since 2023! @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
The volunteer group for IACS is working hard to promote and maintain new volunteers. Interested? Reach out! you are needed. @indydocumenters @mirrorindy @indygov
Shelter design meetings for the new shelter are occurring more and more to help lock in details. The plan to break ground on the new facility is still set before the end of the year. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
The question of how many animal rescues take place in state vs. out of state? On average there are about 100 rescues in state, versus approximately 25 rescues out of state. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
The final draft of the "Development Agreement of Workplace Culture at IACS" will be posted tomorrow. The hope is to provide support as well as leadership development within ICAS. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov
An area of concern is how the animals at the shelter are disposed of after being euthanized. Members of the board agree that this is an area that they would like to explore and possibly change in the future. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters
The board of IACS acknowledges that the work they do is often times "daunting, thankless and draining" and are working to possibly get mental health services for their employees. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters @indygov