Animal Advocates Want New Indianapolis Animal Care Services Director
Source: WISH-TV
INDIANAPOLIS–Kelly Diamond is the Interim Director of the Indianapolis Animal Care Services. She may get that position on a permanent basis, but several people explained to the Indianapolis City-County Council’s Community Affairs Committee Wednesday night why they felt she shouldn’t get the job.
The committee didn’t take a vote, but they had plenty of discussion. The meeting lasted roughly three hours.
“There’s simply no way that this many people can speak out and be wrong. Where there’s smoke, there’s certainly fire,” said one woman at the meeting.
Other animal advocates who spoke at the meeting spoke of bad policies under Diamond along with cutting hours. One woman said Diamond didn’t run background checks and there was “low morale.”
Volunteers with the IACS say Diamond is enforcing a policy requiring volunteers to leave the shelter at 7 pm, when previously they were allowed to be there until 9 pm.
“Slashing the volunteer hours during the week now forces dogs to hold their bladders and waste for over 14 hours or sit in their own waste until the next morning,” said another woman.
Diamond was also at the meeting and she explained some of her decisions.
“We value the positive contributions from our volunteers, and we also value their safety. Not only are we concerned about their safety when it comes to animals in our shelter, but also that of the public, being able to access our building and our property and enter that building while they are there without management oversight,” said Diamond.
Diamond said one of the improvements made was the removal of temporary crates. One of Diamond’s supporters spoke about that.
“For over a year, our shelter was operating well beyond maximum capacity. Dogs were being held in crates in every hallway, every room, and every office. Kelly made the decision to ditch the crates and it was absolutely the right call,” said the woman.
Another woman said Diamond fired the volunteer coordinator.
“That decision did not seem well thought out. It’s been over a month since the volunteer coordinator was let go and that position remains open,” she said.
City-County Councillor Dan Boots offered a message to Diamond.
“Your volunteer corps is one of the strongest I’ve seen in my five years of any agency, and I implore you to find a way to work with them and bring them back on at full speed,” said Boots.
The City-County Council could vote on Diamond’s appointment at its next meeting on March 3
