New Indy Animal Care Services hires volunteer coordinator after months unfilled

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The new director of Indianapolis Animal Care Services says she has hired a volunteer coordinator. The position has been left unfilled for most of this year, impacting care for the animals, according to former volunteers.

I-Team 8 has long reported on conditions inside the shelter. Most recently, top staffers said not having a volunteer coordinator led to hygiene concerns and overcrowding inside the shelter.

On Thursday morning, the shelter’s new director, Amanda Dehoney-Hinkle, told I-Team 8 that she is in the process of identifying key challenges.

“Right now, it’s been pretty hectic the first three weeks, so I’m just now getting a chance to, like, 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 said.

Dehoney-Hinkle spoke to I-Team 8 on a gravelly construction site on East Raymond Street. That’s where the new IACS shelter will be next year.

She’s taking the helm after a rocky few years, as overcrowding and care concerns have plagued the shelter.

Just this year, volunteer hours were cut, and most of the shelter’s 250 dogs were only let out of the kennel once a day.

Former Volunteer Coordinator Lauren Wyatt sounded the alarm when speaking to I-Team 8 earlier this year.

“Volunteers found animals with their incision open from their … spay surgery, intestines coming out,” Wyatt said.

Dehoney-Hinkle acknowledges the relationship between volunteers and management is strained.

“I have met with volunteers,” Dehoney-Hinkle said. “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.”

I-Team 8 asked her if she has plans to reinstate the long controversial MyCase policy. Last year, I-Team 8 reported on two workers who were fired for using the online tool to check potential adopters’ criminal history.

Dehoney-Hinkle declined to answer that specifically.

“I want us to be able to reach our common goal between volunteer, staff, and myself, and that is, again, 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.

She says she’s well-suited for the role after she was the superintendent of Greenfield-Hancock County Animal Management for nine years.

Prior to that, she worked in Indianapolis.

“I actually started on the sheltering side of animal welfare in 2010 at Indianapolis Animal Care Services as an animal control officer,” Dehoney-Hinkle said. “I’ve kind of done a little bit of everything in the shelter.”

Dehoney-Hinkle also served as the IACS interim director before her time at Greenfield-Hancock.

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