For most who live in and around Indianapolis the municipal shelter is an obscure, often unpleasant, topic of conversation. Some may not even know it exists, yet the Indianapolis Animal Care and Control struggles daily to improve its reputation and the outcome of thousands of abandoned animals who end up there annually.
Our city, like most large cities, suffers from an abundance of unwanted or abandoned animals and to witness what goes on inside the IACC’s walls is not for the faint of heart. Many of us will sigh and shake our heads. Others among us may shy away completely. There are some, however, brave enough and resolved enough, who keep up the good fight and are making a difference, a huge difference! They are literally the unsung heroes and their story brings great inspiration. Circle City Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Hospital had the great honor to host some of these champions the other evening during Move to ACT’s Rescue Rally Awards Ceremony.
Move to ACT is a not-for-profit organization focused on bringing support and awareness to forgotten animals and the all-volunteer rescue groups who save them. Move to ACT held their “Rescue Rally” to encourage these groups to pull as many animals from the IACC during a window of time. This action to step up the pace gathered broad community support and what has followed is a notable increase in the number of animals saved. In 2013, over 2,000 pets were adopted directly from IACC while an additional 6,200 animals were pulled by rescue groups for rehabilitation, fostering, and later adoptions.
With great humility, our hats go off to Move to ACT and the all-volunteer shelters and organizations who, with little funding and notoriety, save these neglected, abused, and all too often, forgotten animals in our neighborhoods.
