Humane Society for Hamilton County move proposal sparks Fishers neighborhood debate
FISHERS, Ind (WISH) – Debate is growing in one Fishers neighborhood after council rezoned property to make way for a humane society.
At the northeast part of the Hauge Road, 106th Street intersection sits many residential streets. Several neighbors, including Karl Freburg, have placed supportive humane society signs in their lawn.
“The sign you’ll see on our entire street because we’re the closest street to the location,” Freburg said. “We’re pretty much, almost anonymously in favor of the move to that location.”
Freburg is ready to welcome furry friends. For eleven years, Humane Society for Hamilton County has been at its Noblesville spot.
But the agency is out of room, and wants to move to Fishers. On Monday, council rezoned the land for the agency.
“Will it be perfect? I doubt it,” Freburg said. “We’ll probably hear some dog noise occasionally. I love dogs, it doesn’t bother me that much.”
For the past several weeks, the humane society has worked to address those questions. A public meeting took place ahead of council votes.
Not everyone is happy with the council vote. More than 50 neighbors near the proposed site signed a petition against the move.
“We enjoy sitting out on backyard, our kids play back there, and hearing barking at all hours of the day, and night possibly, we didn’t know,” Stephanie Melillo said.
Melillo’s husband collected signatures. He did this despite the couple owning a rescue dog and cat. “In fact, our daughter, when she turned ten, instead of getting presents got stuff for the humane society off of their wish list and donated that,” Melillo said.
But the pair doesn’t think opening near their neighborhood is ideal. “I do agree with wanting to maintain the value of our home, and the peacefulness we do have in our neighborhood,” Melillo said.
The humane society won’t move overnight which will allow concerns to be addressed. “It’ll be fun to watch the progress,” Freburg said.
A lot of steps still have to take place before the agency relocates. Money needs to be secured for the building, and they also need to finalize what it’ll look like. To read more about the proposal and how the humane society is addressing concerns, click here.