Humane Society of Indianapolis opens new Animal Welfare Center - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Animal advocates are taking a new approach to dealing with the growing number of stray and unwanted animals across the city.

Monday, the Humane Society of Indianapolis (HSI) will open its new Animal Welfare Center just west of downtown. The center will offer low-cost vaccinations and ultimately spay/neuter services, two things it expects to help curb the overpopulation problem.

HSI chose to open its first-ever satellite center at 456 N. Holmes Ave. in the Haughville neighborhood.

HSI CEO John Aleshire said noted that each year, Indianapolis Animal Care and Control (IACC) takes in roughly 18,000 animals.

"Seventy-five percent of those 18,000 animals come from ten zip codes. This is one of them, so it's right in the heart of the problem," Aleshire said.

Haughville is part of the 46222 zip code. According to IACC, during the last 12 months alone, animal control officers impounded 599 animals from the area, with just 19 returned to owners.

Many arrive at the shelter without being spayed/neutered or vaccinated, making it, as Aleshire says, "a public safety issue."

But animals brought to Animal Care and Control also have just a 50-50 shot of being adopted.

Aleshire said the goal of the new center is "to provide a way and a place to keep pets healthy and legal and once and for all to bring down the number of unwanted animals to Animal Care and Control."

Mary Bitner has three dogs and a cat, sometimes two. (She notes there are many feral cats in the Haughville neighborhood.) She thinks the center will be widely used.

"I think being down the street and on the west side, where people don't have a lot of money, I think people will go, because it's convenient and it's lower cost," she said.

Quintan Roberts, who has a new seven-month-old pit bull mix named Roxy, agreed. "To go to the vet, it's like $75 to $100 just for a check-up, so yeah, I think that will work."

The vaccination clinic is phase one of the new center. Phase two will be the addition of the spay/neuter clinic. That's once the money's raised.

Aleshire said it will cost about $750,000.  The vaccination clinic cost $250,000.

The clinic will be open four days a week and is available to anyone, regardless of income or where they live. Four other animal advocacy groups will also share space in the center. They include FIDO and Indy Pit Crew.

Aleshire said once the whole facility is operational (spaying/neutering), they expect to cut the number of animals wind up at IACC by 25-28 percent. He said not only will that save more animals' lives, but it will save the city money as studies show for every $1 spent on spaying and neutering you save $3 in the care and housing of animals.