Photos by Tony Valainis
EVA WAS a 7-year-old pit bull who had been stuffed into a storage ottoman and left with the trash in an alley when she was rescued by a good Samaritan and taken to a local shelter. Although she did not lose her life in a landfill, Eva sustained serious injuries from her ordeal and was left unable to walk. Scooting from person to person in the shelter for pets and snuggles, she amazed the shelter staff. Despite everything she’d been through, Eva still craved human interaction.
Eva’s story is not unique. Central Indiana shelters are overflowing with animals that have been neglected, abused, abandoned, and surrendered for a host of reasons. However, there are also a number of organizations that believe every animal deserves a chance to find a forever home, and they are doing everything they can to give our furry friends a new lease on life.
Every Dog Counts Rescue is an all-volunteer organization that works to save dogs living in high-kill shelters throughout Central Indiana and the greater Midwest. Dogs facing death row are pulled from shelters and placed with foster families and receive veterinary care until they can be transferred to other rescue facilities or adopted by loving families.
“We try to focus on animals that other rescues aren’t able to care for, such as senior dogs, those with medical needs, or those that are not highly adoptable,” says Audrey Harrison, EDCR board member-at-large. “If a dog had a terminal illness, we might place them in ‘fospice’ [foster hospice] care so that they can receive the end-of-life love that they deserve.”
At the time of her rescue, Eva was seen by some of the best surgeons and veterinary rehabilitation specialists in the area, who diagnosed her with a shattered pelvis and nerve damage in one of her back legs. When she met her EDCR foster family, she had to be carried around in a sling to support her back legs, but with time, patience, and a whole lot of love, she’s made wonderful progress. She still has a limp but happily goes for walks with her foster family and is currently looking for her forever home.
“We are not a high-volume rescue, and our dogs tend to be expensive because many of them need major surgeries and have conditions that can easily run $5,000–$6,000 per animal. We depend on private donations, volunteers, and the veterinarians we work with to donate a lot of their services and offer deep discounts so that we can help as many dogs as possible,” Harrison says.
FACE Low-Cost Animal Clinic believes animals enrich our lives and all people should have a chance to experience the joy of their companionship. However, everyday people are being priced out of the joys of pet ownership. FACE wants to be part of the solution rather than the problem. For the past 25 years, the near-eastside facility has worked to provide high-quality, affordable spay and neuter services, vaccinations, and wellness visits to prevent the unnecessary euthanasia of dogs and cats.
Photos by Tony Valainis
“To date, we have provided spay/neuter services to over 313,000 cats and dogs in the Central Indiana area, which is a crucial part of keeping pets out of overcrowded shelters,” says Alyssa Starr Newerth, director of community impact for FACE.
In addition to their professional medical team, FACE also relies on an assembly of
volunteers who help the clinic by doing laundry, preparing and cleaning surgical tools, and cleaning kennels. They also recruit volunteers to assist with the annual Mutt Cup Cocktail Competition, the organization’s largest fundraiser.
“While our services are priced as low as possible to sustain a financially stable organization, we know that our fees are still too high for many people in our community. We have a Spay It Forward Fund at FACE to provide financial assistance to those who need it. Proceeds from the Indy Gives Challenge will be directed to that fund,” Starr Newerth says.
Launched in 2022, the Biscuit Factory Animal Rescue provides care and support for homeless felines, from orphaned neonates to adults. Based in Greenfield, the Biscuit Factory Animal Rescue serves primarily the Hancock County area, but they do take in cats from surrounding counties as space allows.
“We have taken in cats with broken legs [and] fractured pelvises, cats and kittens in need of eye removal, cats with neurological issues such as seizures and cerebellar hypoplasia, as well as a large amount of bottle babies and kittens under the age of nine weeks,” says board president Susan Schlundt. “As we wrap up our third year, we are on track for exceeding an intake of 1,200 cats since January 1, 2022.”
While there are quite a few cats that have been sick, nursed back to health, and then adopted, Schlundt says one kitten made a significant impact on her. The 5-week-old female weighed only 4 ounces when the Biscuit Factory Animal Rescue took her in from animal control, though she should have weighed over a pound. To add insult to injury, the kitten was an ugly duckling, making Schlundt wonder who would ever adopt her. But by the time she went to live in her forever home, she had recovered back to full health and blossomed into the most beautiful, medium-haired dilute calico.
“We hope to obtain a facility to house our adult and adoption-aged kittens in the near future, thus increasing our ability to take in and rehome cats by providing a better means of meeting and adopting our adult cats,” she says. “Ideally, this space will also allow for a low-cost spay/neuter veterinarian to provide local service at least once a month. But like every animal organization, we are in need of volunteer foster families and donations to grow.”
Photos by Tony Valainis
When it comes to saving lives, educating communities, and completing families, the Humane Society for Hamilton County is second to none. Founded in 1984, it is one of the only open-admission, no-kill shelters in the country, meaning they do not euthanize due to time, space, breed, or disability. The Humane Society takes in nearly 4,000 animals a year, including hundreds at risk for euthanasia in other Indiana shelters, and since 2014, the organization has consistently achieved a rare 98-percent live placement rate.
“Our community outreach programs connect children, seniors, Hoosier veterans, and more with the healing power of pets every day. Our youth education programs plant seeds of kindness, responsibility, and philanthropy in thousands of children each year through classroom visits and educational programming,” says community engagement manager Lily Darling. “Our Pets for Vets program pairs eligible Hoosier veterans with a shelter pet and pays for care for the life of the pet.”
Darling says volunteers play a critical role in running HSHC. They currently have nearly 1,000 who support the staff in caring for the animals, preparing for fundraising events, and cleaning the facility. She says without the volunteers, they would not be able to save as many lives as they do.
“As we continue our no-kill mission, we would like to see Indiana become a no-kill state. The commitment to our mission doesn’t stop with Hamilton County. We’ve always shared available resources to save as many out-of-county animals as possible, and we won’t stop until every Hoosier animal has the chance to live, love, and be loved.”
