Mayor Joe Hogsett has announced his pick for the new director of Indianapolis’ animal welfare agency after a months-long search. Amanda Dehoney-Hinkle, currently the superintendent of Greenfield-Hancock Animal Management, will be appointed as the director of Indianapolis Animal Care Services effective July 21.
Dehoney-Hinkle’s directorship is subject to confirmation by the Community Affairs Committee and the full City-County Council.
The first six of Dehoney-Hinkle’s 15 years in animal welfare were spent at IACS, and she previously served as the agency’s interim director, according to a news release from the mayor’s office.
“She brings to the role firsthand experience of running the state’s busiest animal welfare facility,” the news release read.
Hogsett’s previous pick for IACS director, Kelly Diamond, failed to be confirmed earlier this year after dozens of animal advocates implored city officials to find another candidate.
Diamond has served as the agency’s interim director since February 2024. Volunteers say that policy changes under her leadership have created inhumane conditions for the animals and a hostile work environment for their caretakers.
Under Diamond’s tenure, shelter volunteer hours were slashed. That left dogs with one 15-minute outdoor bathroom break per day. Current and former volunteers described kennels full of feces and newborn kittens dying in their cages.
Diamond told the Community Affairs Committee in February that the shift reduction came from liability concerns.
Kelly LaRoche, IACS’ deputy director of policy and planning, told city officials at that meeting that leadership is “painfully aware of how much work remains.”
IACS has operated at or above capacity for years. The current building wasn’t intended to house animals in the long term, and the city broke ground on a new shelter facility in June 2024. It will be about three times as large as the current building.
Indianapolis’ animal care agency took in about 8,000 animals in 2024, down from more than 15,000 in 2019, according to city statistics. That’s in large part due to the introduction of an appointment-only drop-off policy known as “managed intake.” As of February, the average wait time for an owner surrender was about two months and for strays, four weeks.
A vote on Dehoney-Hinkle’s confirmation has not yet been scheduled. The next meeting of the Community Affairs Committee is scheduled for July 23.
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Mayor’s office announces appointment of new Indianapolis Animal Care Services director
Reporting by Ryan Murphy, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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