After days without power in its shelter, clinic and resale shop, Humane Indiana got an unexpected phone call.
“On Monday, I got a call from a woman who had said that she had some storm damage to her trailer that she lived in in Merrillville. A tree had fallen on top of it and split it in half,” said Jessica Greer, senior shelter director. “She said she had several dogs in there that needed placement because they were now exposed to the elements, and it was still raining at the time. … And she said, ‘Well, there’s about 20 of them.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, that’s a little bit too many for us to handle. So we’re probably going to want to involve animal control just to make sure everybody is safe.’”
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When they arrived at the damaged Merrillville mobile home, they initially found 40 chihuahua mixes of all ages, some of which were pregnant. Many of the chihuahuas are emaciated and have varying illnesses, fleas and other medical concerns, according to Humane Indiana staff.
“On Wednesday when we came back, we were able to go on scene with the Merrillville Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Department Animal Control Division to assist and retrieve the remainder of the animals, which included a couple of cats as well. And now we’re well over 70 animals from this specific case.”
Merrillville Police said because the investigation is ongoing, the animals taken from the home couldn’t be immediately transferred into foster care or adoption. No charges had been filed as of Friday and further information had not immediately been released.
Brian Fitzpatrick, CEO of Humane Indiana, said many of the rescued dogs “don’t know how to be dogs yet.” When volunteers provided them bedding and toys, the chihuahuas didn’t seem to know what to do with either, sleeping on the bare floor instead.
Part of their intake process is gaining names. A tiny longhaired chihuahua, Amethyst, ran up to greet visitors and curiously poke her nose between the bars.
“Some of them are in rough shape, but the amazing thing is that many of these dogs are very friendly and social,” Fitzpatrick said. “They come right up to people, which you don’t usually see with hoarding cases, where dogs tend to be fearful and stay away. And that’s really hopeful for how quickly they will be able to be homed.”
Fitzpatrick said Humane Indiana’s Shelter & Adoption Center, Estelle Marcus Animal Clinic, and PAWS Resale Shop was without power for six days. Some of the staff and volunteers still don’t have power, but that hasn’t stopped them from showing up, he said. It has proven to be an eventful 85th year of operation for the animal rescue and clinic nonprofit.
“The last couple weeks have been kind of crazy here, the ups and downs of the animal world has been impacting us greatly,” Fitzpatrick said.
As the medical team makes assessments, Greer said she hopes the first group of rescued Chihuahuas and cats can start to be adopted out or placed in foster homes by the end of the week.
Fitzpatrick said because the chihuahuas have lived in close quarters together, many of them will do well in an environment with other pets. All adoption-able pets at Humane Indiana are vaccinated, tested for heartworm, dewormed, microchipped, given flea/tick and heartworm prevention, and spayed or neutered.
“We definitely don’t want any of them to be used for breeding ever again,” Greer said. “We’re not 100 percent sure if that is the case, but we definitely can tell some of the females have gone through several litters and it’s time that they don’t have to do that again.”
In addition, Humane Indiana Wildlife in Valparaiso has been flooded with animals injured or orphaned from the storms. In the span of a week, 317 new animals were admitted and more than 500 animals are currently in care, from birds to small mammals like bats, opossums and rabbits.
“We also lost a couple enclosures through the storm damage,” Fitzpatrick said. “But the community has been filling our needs and showing up for us. When we needed water, the community showed up with five gallon water jugs. Someone donated a generator. The community here responds for the animals and it’s fantastic. That’s what makes this mission special.”
The vast majority of patients came from areas most heavily hit by the storms like Gary, Merrillville, Griffith and Portage. Young Eastern grey squirrels alone currently make up 144 of the wildlife center population, causing the need to build another three squirrel cages.
The storm also moved the original “Clear the Shelters” event with NBC. The new time is set for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 12 at Humane Indiana at 421 45th St. in Munster. The adoption event will feature waived and reduced fees on select pets.
“The vetting of 70-plus animals is going to be extremely costly,” Greer said. “And you don’t have to come and adopt from us in order to support us. You can donate to us, you can visit our wish list, you can drop off items, you can do fundraisers on your own just to kind of help us offset the cost. There’s various ways that people can help us. We will be providing vaccines, deworming, microchipping, and spaying and neutering and we’re hoping that we’ll be able to get that done pretty quickly.”
To learn how to donate, foster or adopt, visit humaneindiana.org or call 219-922-3811 during business hours.
Anna Ortiz is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.