Mr. Handsome
Offering $200 to have a conversation with the adopter of Mr. Handsome and obtain proof of his current whereabouts.
Mr. Handsome was rescued by Humane Society of the Dunes in December 2023. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek. He was one of the last three animals Humane Society of the Dunes was allowed to pull from Indianapolis Animal Care Services and IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) before they stopped allowing her to pull animals. She pulled ~110 cats and dogs from IACS before they stopped allowing it.
Mr. Handsome had a number of health concerns which put him on the “rescue only” list at IACS, including skin issues possibly caused by food allergies, blood and crystals in his urine and a UTI, and abnormal findings in his bloodwork.
After Mr. Handsome went to Humane Society of the Dunes, he was quickly adopted. Jane claimed he was adopted by an employee at the vet clinic she uses, Westchester Animal Clinic. IACS Rescue shared two photos provided by Jane in which the background does not appear to be at Jane’s house (unlike most of the other “updates” she posted). She also posted an “update” with the same photo of him a few months later from the Humane Society of the Dunes Facebook page.
We believe that Mr. Handsome was really adopted and that the photos really were from his adopter and not Jane. Of the 110 or so animals she took from IACS, this is one of the only ones we are willing to say that about. We are offering $200* if the person who adopted him would be willing to have a conversation with us wherein we can get a few questions answered and also receive proof that Mr. Handsome is doing alright now. Please reach out to us. (*$100 from the admins of this page, $100 from a generous supporter)
In December 2023, on Mr. Handsome’s “freedom ride” post by IACS Rescue, a long comment chain ensued in which Jane’s detractors got into an argument with her, with her commenting back from the Humane Society of the Dunes Facebook page. That’s probably best saved for another post, but it got heated and although Indianapolis Animal Care Services is a government organization and they are not allowed to attempt to limit free speech (something they’d gotten in trouble with the ACLU for a mere month previously), IACS limited the comments on the post for a while before changing it back to allow comments, presumably when it was realized that they were stepping into another Constitutional crisis 🥴
This was one of a number of times in which IACS silenced or attempted to silence people who expressed concerns over Humane Society of the Dunes and what happened to the animals that went there. In fact, between 2019 and 2023, 9 different people that we know of reached out to the IACS rescue coordinator at the time expressing concerns, and if they couldn’t provide concrete proof, their comments were deleted, they were blocked (again, over a matter of public concern, by a government organization 😒) or threatened with blocking. One of those 9 people had previously taken Jane to court over a missing cat, and another claims that Jane trapped her whole colony of community cats and when she inquired of their whereabouts, Jane told her they were better off dead than outside. Two others who reached out to IACS to express concerns are members of legitimate and well-respected rescue organizations in Northwest Indiana. Shelters have a responsibility to ensure that the animals in their care are placed in safe situations. In addition to a history of stifling free speech, IACS also has a history of prioritizing placing animals over ensuring that it is an appropriate placement, to put it mildly. Live release rates are not more important than the safety of the animals when they leave the shelter.
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