No place like home: New Humane Society strives to build on human-animal connection

By Ken Thompson

No greater love hath Greater Lafayette residents than for their pets.

The origin of the Tippecanoe County Humane Society dates to 1939, with a mission to improve the lives of animals in our community.

But as Greater Lafayette has grown in population over the past 85 years, so has the need for a modern animal shelter. Now called Almost Home Humane Society, its facilities at 1705 S. Second St. have become inadequate.

The pending retirement of the owners of Crystal Creek Kennels in Battle Ground, which has had a contract with Tippecanoe County for nearly 30 years, forced Greater Lafayette leaders to find a solution to both problems.

“What do we do?” Tippecanoe County Commissioner Tom Murtaugh says. “Almost Home doesn’t have the capacity for additional pets. We reached out to the cities, and collectively we made a decision to move forward with a community shelter that was much more visible and much more up to date. We found the funding to build this state-of-the-art facility.”

With an initial investment of $5 million also came a fortuitous solution to the location problem. The former Purdue Extension Office at 3150 Sagamore Parkway South near Tippecanoe Mall was vacant, sitting on land owned by Tippecanoe County. Sharon Dull, president of the Humane Society for Greater Lafayette, suggested that would be the perfect site for the new shelter.

“Sharon was so adamant about that it be in a very prominent location,” Murtaugh says. “That’s a detriment to where Almost Home is. Nobody ever sees it. Nobody drives by it. To get there you have to make a conscious effort to find it.

“We didn’t have a plan for that site yet other than to potentially sell it. When she came forward with this idea, it was the same time we were doing the renovations to the old YMCA building next to the fairgrounds. We had a plan to move the extension office to that location. It’s a much better fit.”

Murtaugh says he was skeptical at first, concerned that the land rested in a flood plain.

“Then as we got to looking at it, (we thought) wait a minute, this can work,” he says.

Financing the Humane Society for Greater Lafayette shelter was divided based on the animal intake over the past few years among the three governing bodies. Lafayette would bear 50 percent of the cost, Tippecanoe County 40 percent, and West Lafayette 10 percent, Murtaugh says.

Eagerly awaiting the shelter’s opening in late summer or early fall is Executive Director Josh Klumpe, who has more than 17 years of animal welfare experience, including his former position as chief animal control officer for the Lafayette Police Department.

The passion for animals is obvious when Klumpe talks about his hopes for the new shelter.

“Something I’m excited about is being a beacon to our community,” Klumpe says. “If you have an animal issue or you need help or education or anything, we’re the ones you come to.”

His experience in animal control taught Klumpe that a shelter is more than just a resource to help animals.

“It’s not just helping your animal population and decreasing your animal population,” Klumpe says. “People love animals, so you are dealing more with people than the animals. That’s probably what I’m looking forward to the most, not just dealing with the animal population but really getting out in the public and assisting people with pet retention, keeping the animals in the home so they don’t enter my doors at the shelter.”

Klumpe believes a central location will also help pets reunite more quickly with their families.

“No longer will you have to answer the question, ‘If you lose your dog, where do you go?ʼ ” he says. “No more guesswork on that part.”

The Humane Society for Greater Lafayette is a nonprofit (501c3) organization that will rely on raising money in the community to fund programs that Klumpe says will give the help people need to keep animals in their care.

“The need is outside of the walls,” he says. “We can house and care for the animals inside without an issue, but I really want to focus on getting our helping hands outside of our walls. Helping people who need the help. And try to keep the animals out of the facility.

“A humane organization is maybe the only type of organization that consistently tries to work themselves out of a job. As an animal welfare professional, you hope one day you’re not needed any more.”

The 17,000-square-foot facility will have 68 indoor/outdoor dog kennels, 157 cat kennels and four large rooms that can house multiple cats. There’s also space for exotic animals, small mammals, reptiles and just about any other creature that might need a temporary home.

“With my history I know anything can walk through that door,” Klumpe says. “We’ve had plenty of rabbits and snakes and lizards. We have two outdoor livestock pens. When you are going to contract with the county, you never know. I’ve caught my fair share of potbelly pigs in town.”

Well aware that social media has helped reunite many pets with their families, Klumpe says the Humane Society for Greater Lafayette has Facebook and Instagram accounts with plans to join Next Door in the near future.

“We’re going to utilize the Lost and Found Pets of Greater Lafayette page on Facebook for the strays as well as on our website, try to get them back home where they belong,” Klumpe says. “No matter how nice your humane society is, it’s still a stressful place for that dog or that cat. The idea is to get them out and get them back home or get them into a new home as fast as you can.”

Before the doors open, Klumpe and his team are looking to hire staff as well as recruiting volunteers and foster homes.

“We’re going to really rely on the public to help us out,” he says. “Fostering and volunteering, that’s incredible work they do. We’ve had a lot of support from companies and individual people. We’re obviously new so we’re trying to get our donor base larger every day.”

When the new shelter does open, that doesn’t mean Almost Home won’t still be needed. Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski says the city will maintain its relationship.

“Almost unfortunately there’s enough work out there for both taking care of animals, animals who are abused, neglected, surrendered,” Roswarski says. “(Almost Home) is still in a city building and we are going to allow them to stay as long as they want. We’ll continue to work with them for overflow issues and things like that.”

Roswarski says he expects Greater Lafayette to quickly welcome the new shelter.

“We have a very compassionate community, a kind community when it comes to the way we take care of our animals,” he says. “I think that’s why they will appreciate a facility of this quality.” ★