New IACS Director Ready to Take on Challenges Facing Shelter
INDIANAPOLIS — The new director of Indianapolis Animal Care Services is laying out her plan for the shelter’s future.
Amanda Dehoney-Hinkle was approved by the Indianapolis City-County Council to be the new IACS Director last month. She started her career at IACS in 2010, working her way up to be deputy chief of kennel operations and interim director before spending the past nine years as superintendent for Greenfield-Hancock Animal Management.
In her first few weeks on the job, Dehoney-Hinkle said she’s spent a lot of time getting familiar with staff members and identifying areas that need to be improved at IACS.
“It’s been pretty hectic the first three weeks, so I’m just now getting a chance to sit down and really dig into those things, meeting with staff and volunteers and kind of figuring out where we need to go,” Dehoney-Hinkle told WISH-TV Thursday.
The shelter has dealt with serious overcrowding over the past few years. IACS currently has 226 dogs and 143 cats which is either over or near capacity. At one point, the shelter had around 250 dogs who didn’t always get quality time outside.
While at the construction site of the future facility, Dehoney-Hinkle said moving into a new shelter will improve the way staff members and volunteers conduct business and give the animals a healthier environment.
“I want us to be able to reach our common goal between volunteer, staff, and myself, and that is just making this the best shelter that we can and providing the best care that we can for the animals while they’re in our shelter,” Dehoney-Hinkle said.
The new $7 million facility on East Raymond Street will be 50,000 square feet and includes an expanded medical clinic, designated animal intake space, public dog park, outdoor play yards and trails. The current facility is over 20 years old and just 24,000 square feet.
IACS recently hired a new volunteer coordinator after months went by with the position unfilled. Volunteer hours were also cut which affected how the animals were cared for.
Dehoney-Hinkle said she has had positive meetings with volunteers already.
“It was a fantastic meeting and I look forward to having more of those to kind of hearing what their challenges are and working on building that relationship back again with staff and volunteers alike,” she said.
