Jean McGroarty would be the first to admit Kokomo’s animal shelter, built in 1952, isn’t the ideal setting for pet adoptions.

The executive director of the Kokomo Humane Society, McGroarty knows too many local animals are being euthanized.

One of the biggest reasons, she said, is the way the building is set up.

“When you bring Spike the aggressive pitbull into the lobby and he’s standing there growling at people, and a family of five walks in and wants to adopt a puppy, that’s a problem,” she said.

Kokomo’s shelter only has one door and one lobby. There is no separate facility for the intake of animals.

That means a constant flow of animals and people go through the lobby. People dropping off unwanted animals and animal control officers bringing in strays can create a stressful atmosphere for anyone coming by to adopt an animal.

In a given year, around 4,500 animals come into the shelter. About one-third of those animals find a home, McGroarty said.

But the shelter is like a public school. While some shelters refuse to take certain animals, Kokomo’s shelter has an “open admission” policy.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re aggressive, sick, hurt, feral or whatever,” she said. “We don’t pick and choose.

“We feel we’d rather be an open admission and keep animals from being in truly terrible situations, than be a limited- admission shelter.”

Local veterinarian Bob Mason, president of the local humane society’s board of directors, said the public perhaps doesn’t understand some of the challenges the Kokomo shelter faces.

The organization is both the local animal control contractor and the local adoption shelter, which makes comparisons with so-called “no kill” shelters very misleading, he explained.

“The term ‘no kill’ is an oxymoron,” Mason said. “They are simply shelters who send the least-wanted animals someplace else to die.”

At the same time, Mason and his fellow board members believe there are numerous ways the society can help save more animal lives.

Those goals are outlined in a new strategic plan that aims to lower the shelter’s euthanasia rate by 25 percent over the next five years.

Planning for a shelter

The biggest goal is a new shelter. Within three years, board members and McGroarty hope to have a plan in place and be ready to begin a capital campaign.

A new facility, Mason said, would not only help adoption rates, but it would also increase the number of people willing to volunteer at the shelter.

“From a volunteer perspective, to arrive at the facility ... the will to volunteer is somewhat decreased due to the condition of the facility,” Mason said. “That’s tragic, but that’s the way it is.”

McGroarty said the immediate goal is to investigate the best ideas for a new facility, including the possibility of a better location.

The current shelter, located at 713 N. Elizabeth St., is hemmed in by railroad tracks and a trash-hauling facility.

McGroarty said she’d also like a place more visible to the public, although she concedes the board would have to sell any potential new neighbors on the idea of an animal shelter moving next door.

Retrofitting an existing space might be a possibility, and there have been discussions about leasing space to create a separate place where animals could be showcased for adoption.

As with any non-profit, money is always an issue.

The society has an annual budget of about $600,000. Roughly 80 percent of the budget comes from contracts with Kokomo and Howard County for animal control. The rest comes from adoption fees and public support. That public support would have to increase substantially to fund a new building.

Getting more animals adopted is one part of the plan. Seeing fewer animals coming into the shelter is another goal.

Placement rates in Kokomo could be improved if the community simply sent fewer animals — particularly fewer sick and hurt animals — to the shelter.

Mason said he is particularly concerned about the number of “puppy mills” operating in the area.

“We have to educate the public. We’re overburdened with animals we can’t adopt. And we have the Amish and other agricultural enterprises just manufacturing the hell out of not-very-high quality pups,” he said. The dogs are often surrendered to the shelter covered in fleas, with ear mites, infectious diarrhea and other problems, he added.

“If you want to lower the euthanasia rate, quit buying dogs from puppy mills,” Mason said.

Prospective pet adoptees also have to understand they’re getting a bargain when they adopt from the shelter, even if some individuals might be put off by the adoption fee.

Getting a healthy animal — which has been spayed/neutered — for less than $100 is actually “cheaper than free,” Mason said. Having a dog neutered at a private clinic costs between $150 and $200, he said. Spaying costs even more.

“Humane society animals are an incredible bargain,” he said.

Society animals also come with a microchip, so they can be found if lost.

Moving forward

McGroarty has been director of the local humane society for two years, and in that time, she’s seen progress made in community involvement and an almost entirely new board of directors.

Now Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight wants to lend his support to the society’s strategic goals, and city officials are planning to attend a Dec. 10 board meeting to hear more about the strategic plan.

Prior to that meeting, a group is planning a trip to Noblesville, where the Humane Society for Hamilton County opened a new animal shelter in 2006.

Hamilton society executive director Rebecca Stevens said she understands the concerns of her counterparts in Kokomo, particularly on the issue of separating the animal intake and adoption areas.

The Noblesville shelter has three entrances. There is a main entrance, where people looking for lost pets or hoping to adopt can see healthy pets awaiting placement.

People coming to surrender their pets to the shelter must use the back entrance. And finally, there is a “sally port” garage door for use by animal control officers.

Like Kokomo, the Noblesville shelter acts as the animal control facility for an entire county.

But through the help of volunteers and public support, the Hamilton County shelter has been able to see significantly lower euthanasia rates.

“Our goal is to never have to euthanize a healthy, adoptable animal,” Stevens said. “We do whatever we can to partner with groups to get more pets into homes.

“The public is the answer — not the enemy.”

Both McGroarty and Stevens agree working at a shelter is often stressful; “it’s an emotional rollercoaster,” McGroarty said.

“We care about the animals in our care, and we want them to have the best possible chance of being adopted or taken back by their owners,” she said.

But every May, the local cat population, which has a dismally low spay/neuter rate, begins having kittens. Of the cats brought to the Kokomo shelter, only about 11 percent are placed.

In Hamilton County, volunteers operate two programs to trap stray cats, have them spayed/neutered, and then release them.

Some of the cats are feral, while others are simply abandoned and scared. Volunteers can “socialize” some of the cats back into domesticity, often taking them on as foster pets until they’re ready to be adopted.

Partially as a result of the volunteer work, about 55 percent of the cats brought into the Hamilton County shelter are placed.

“The folks up [in Kokomo] don’t need to reinvent the wheel. A lot of the work has been done already,” Stevens said of new, innovative ways to deal with pet populations.

A new Kokomo shelter may be years away, but McGroarty has already seen her mailing list quadruple. There are people in the community who want to help.

The idea is to rekindle enthusiasm for what can often be a difficult, stressful occupation — trying to treat often helpless animals as humanely as possible — and saving as many as possible.

“You’ll see 13-, 14-year-old dogs surrendered by their owners because they got new carpet. It can make you cynical and angry,” Stevens said. “By the same measure, you see the most amazing acts of kindness, like someone coming in and writing a [large] check to pay for heartworm treatment for several dogs.”

“It’s a community problem, and it has to do with people,” McGroarty said. “There are so many animals, and if you don’t like this one, then you go get another. The animals are treated like paper cups. And it’s not just Kokomo; it’s everywhere.”