IndyHumane provides new Pet Resource Center
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — IndyHumane provides a new Pet Resource Center to help families keep their pets out of shelters.
With a startup grant from Tito’s Handmade Vodka, IndyHumane will partner with businesses and use crowdfunding to provide practical, empathetic solutions, and resources to increase pet retention with the goal of keeping families together with their pets, a release from IndyHumane said Monday.
According to data from the 24PetWatch, 75.4% of cats and dogs are surrendered due to factors related to the owner and not the pet. Those factors include too many animals, housing issues, caretaker of family health/death, non-aggressive behavior/personality, and financial issues.
The new Pet Resource Center is set to prevent 500 cats and dogs from entering a shelter in Indianapolis. The center will be located at their North Michigan Road Shelter.
Central Indiana is experiencing a pet overpopulation crisis. One of the factors contributing to this is that people don’t have access to affordable vet care or even basic supplies for their pets.” Said Donna Casamento, CEO of IndyHumane. “We have to work with our community to find a solution. These animals end up being surrendered to municipal as well as private shelters like IndyHumane and we want to prevent that from happening by keeping these families together. Increasing the quality of life for owned animals and reducing owner surrenders is a part of that solution. IndyHumane has the capacity, partnerships, and expertise to help drive this effort.”
Pet Resource Center available resources
- Access to free food through IndyHumane’s Downtown Pantry
- Access to free vaccines, preventatives, and other medical care as needed
- Financial support to assist with rental security deposits
- Free pet supplies, crates, fencing, and other pet equipment
- Access to self-rehoming pet sites
- Collaboration and referrals to local partners that offer specialized solutions for pet owners (fencing, expanded medical support, etc.)
- Pet training and behavior resources