One city employee has left their position and Indianapolis Animal Care Services is making additional changes after a dog’s death in its new facility earlier this month.
Director Amanda Dehoney-Hinkle shared the news at the Community Affairs Committee on July 22, the panel’s first meeting since the new animal shelter opened on Indianapolis’ southeast side in May. Earlier that day, agency leaders had concluded their probe into the death of Stitch, a blind 2-year-old Great Dane who got severe heatstroke and was euthanized after he was left in the outdoor part of his kennel during a cleaning on July 1.
Stitch’s death sparked widespread concern from social media, where some saw it as neglect and others saw it as a symptom of a severely constrained animal welfare system.
“Management had issued specific instructions regarding kennel cleaning procedures during the extreme heat,” Dehoney-Hinkle said. “Unfortunately, those directions were not relayed to the kennel staff responsible for carrying out cleanings that day and as a result…Stitch, unfortunately, was left outside long enough to suffer a fatal heatstroke.”
The kennel supervisor no longer works for the city. Dehoney-Hinkle did not say if their departure was voluntary. Other employees were disciplined, and IACS has also adopted new written procedures to care for animals during extreme heat events, she said.
Whenever temperatures reach at least 85 degrees or whenever animals are in direct sunlight, they must have access to water in the outdoor section of their kennels. The number of animals outside during cleaning time will be limited, and they must be checked on every ten minutes.
“This incident has prompted us to examine not only what occurred on July 1st, but also how we can strengthen our operations moving forward,” Dehoney-Hinkle said.
While the new building is a major upgrade, staffing remains an urgent problem, according to agency leaders and volunteers who spoke at the meeting. Monica Griffin, a volunteer of nearly a decade, said that kennel staff are overwhelmed by cleaning and have little time to interact with dogs.
“Good, long-term volunteers who love the animals are leaving because it’s inhumane,” Griffin said.
There’s also still no staff veterinarian. IACS has exceeded its annual budget this year in part because the agency must pay contracted medical providers, spending about two or three times as much as the salary of a single practitioner.
But the city caps the annual salary offered for a staff veterinarian at $150,000 – significantly lower than what’s typical in private practice.
“This is the one big thing I’m advocating for the budget this year, is to make sure that they have the staff to be able to operate this building,” said Indianapolis City-County Councilor Chair Ali Brown, the committee’s chair. “…There are salary cap rules that we have to deal with in the city, and for somebody who’s gone through medical school, the salary that we can offer them is, frankly, an insult.”
Vince Garten, president of AFSCME Local 725, asked the city-county councilors to secure adequate pay for staff, who he saw deal with serious grief after Stitch’s death.
“Not one person that works here, even the volunteers, refer to the animals as ‘dogs,’ ‘cats,’ ‘squirrels.’ Every animal here has a name. It’s personal,” Garten said. “You guys have got to work with each other so we can get the funds. Let’s get the politics out of it. Think about the animals, think about the workers, and get these individuals and animals what they need.”
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Communication breakdown led to dog’s death at animal shelter, city says
Reporting by Ryan Murphy, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Ryan Murphy, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
