During the recent Humane Society Calumet Area’s 25th Annual Paws in the Park event, visitors received news of two major changes taking place at the Munster shelter.
Opening the daylong event at Community Park, HSCA CEO Rachel Delaney made the announcement.
“We’ve got some very exciting news,” she told the audience. “After many years, we’ve changed our logo, and today we’re also unveiling our Mobile Adoption Unit.”
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The new logo has an added icon of a cardinal — Indiana’s state bird, in the middle of the usual dog and cat. It reinforces the shelter’s commitment to all animals in the state of Indiana, according to Delaney. Injured and orphaned wildlife at Moraine Ridge Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Valparaiso was added to the shelter’s responsibilities a few years ago.
The idea of a traveling adoption truck has been on a back burner for many years, she added.
“We’ve been discussing a mobile unit for many years, but the funding just wasn’t there,” she added. “Now, we have this vehicle, 100 percent funded by a generous offer from Highland businessman Thomas Ray Crowel.”
Twelve cages are mounted inside the truck, which will travel to area businesses, schools and other locations. Showcase windows are mounted on the side of the truck, giving visitors who can’t go inside a view of the animals.
A fundraiser walk around the park, 25 vendors with many free dog food samples, a Kissing Booth, and other activities were on the day’s agenda.
“We come to this every year, it’s a great family event,” said Franny King of Hammond. “We adopted both our dogs from the humane society and we always support them whenever we can.”
Another area in the park was dedicated to pets that have passed away. For a donation, pet owners wrote the name of their pet on a bone-shaped piece of construction paper on a stem and put it in the ground. Halfway through the event, more than 25 colorful markers had been placed along the nearby walking trail.
Munster residents Salina and Raquel Elias were attending a baseball game at the park and noticed all the colorful tents.
“We wanted to see what was going on, this is a pleasant surprise,” Salina said, as she looked at dog clothes. “We love to shop, so I’m glad we walked over.”
Local restaurants sold vegetarian food options, not something always seen at local events.
“This is great. I’m a vegetarian and it’s not always easy for me to find something for my diet,” said Sanjay Parker of Merrillville. “And some of the dog food samples I’ve gotten are gluten and wheat free. That’s refreshing.”
Another announcement came forth this week from Humane Society of Calumet area — the organization has adopted a new name — Humane Indiana.
“The organization has grown and changed so much since I started as a volunteer in 2004,” Delaney said. “I’ve had the pleasure of watching us transform from a small animal shelter to an organization that also includes a low-cost spay/neuter clinic, wildlife center, education center, and resale shop.”
During this growth, the shelter is as committed as ever to sheltering homeless animals and helping them find loving homes, she added.
The original name of the shelter when it was first developed in Hammond in 1941 was Hammond Humane Society. Then, as it expanded to areas outside of Hammond, the shelter was renamed Humane Society Calumet Area.
The recent change to Humane Indiana represents the expansion of their services to all of Northern Indiana and the state of Indiana to represent the scope and reach of the organization’s impact, according to the organization’s recent news release.
For more information, call (219) 513-8911.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.