Inhumane Society of the Dunes

We are the Inhumane Society of the Dunes, a citizen watchdog group investigating the operations of the Humane Society of the Dunes from Chesterton, Indiana. The Humane Society of the Dunes has pulled over 100 animals from Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) and other animal shelters across Indiana.

We are searching for the updates or whereabouts of any pets that have been rescued by the Humane Society of the Dunes. If you have any information please share with us via our contact form. Thank you!

Nightshade was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in September 2023. She was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled her. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Chesterton in Northwest Indiana (NWI)

Nightshade was “rescue only” at the Indy shelter because she had tested positive for FeLV (feline leukemia) and the shelter stated they didn’t adopt out cats with FeLV. Many rescues cannot or will not take cats with leukemia because it is contagious between cats and finding permanent placement for them can be difficult.

Humane Society of the Dunes pulled at least 47 cats from IACS between 2019 and 2023. Yet they only ever posted “updates” about 2 cats they’d pulled, both of which were questionable (see our previous posts about Littles and Bucky). Their Facebook page was recently deleted. When donors reached out to the rescue in early 2024 asking for updates on animals they had donated for, Jane stated she would send their letter to her lawyer then stopped responding. They never posted anything about Nightshade.

We are offering $100 for proof of Nightshade’s whereabouts today. She’d be 3.5 years old now. Please share to help us find out what happened to her.

Noble was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in July 2022. He was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled him. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Chesterton in Northwest Indiana (NWI).

Noble was “rescue only” at the Indy shelter because he was very skinny and needed help with socialization. He’d been growly and redirected when the Animal Control Officer was loading him into the vehicle, and he was nervous when staff got him out. He warmed up some but still needed some work on socialization. He also had a skin issue the shelter was treating him for. Everyone loved his cute, pouty underbite.

Photo from Noble’s time at IACS

Photo from Noble’s time at IACS

Photo from Noble’s time at IACS

Humane Society of the Dunes pulled him, and as with the vast majority of the 110+ animals they pulled from IACS, they never posted any updates about him on social media, and their page was recently deleted (coincidentally around the time our page started getting some attention). Indianapolis Animal Care Services stopped letting Humane Society of the Dunes pull animals from them in late 2023.

We are offering $100 for proof of Noble’s whereabouts today. He’d be about five and a half years old now. He has a very distinctive face and we are hoping someone recognizes this adorable boy and reaches out. If you’ve adopted from or fostered for Humane Society of the Dunes, please reach out to us.

So far, we’ve posted 56 of the 110+ animals they pulled from IACS, one per day. We are halfway there. While we aren’t giving up hope, we are starting to wonder why nobody who knows something is reaching out.

After all…

🤔Humane Society of the Dunes claimed in February 2024 that they had 69 foster homes.

🤔They claimed they had three people running their Facebook page and three people answering their email account.

🤔They claimed to have a foster coordinator named Brenda, and an adoptions coordinator.

🤔They’ve been around a few decades.

🤔In 2004 they claimed to rescue 300-400 animals.

🤔In 2005, they claimed they’d rescued 250 more by May.

🤔In 2014, they claimed they adopted out 490 animals.

🤔In 2017, Jane stated in a newspaper interview, “I rescue 100 animals off the streets every year.”

😱So just in those four years we have statements from Jane about, there were 1140 animals that passed through Humane Society of the Dunes doors… Extrapolating to the low end at “just” 100 animals per year, that’s still a few thousand animals Humane Society of the Dunes did something with… adopted out? 🤷🏼‍♂️

🤔All of this they did with no animals posted for adoption anywhere online. They had no Petfinder website. From 2021 to 2023, they had a total of 8 Facebook posts. They claimed they did a lot of their adoptions through their vet clinic. The “shelter” is a pole barn at a private residence, not open to the public. When we refer to Humane Society of the Dunes as “they”, we really mean “she”/Jane because we’ve yet to find anyone else who is a volunteer, board member, foster, employee, etc.

So what we are getting at is…. how come nobody has reached out to us when there should be hundreds or thousands of adopters who are familiar with this rescue from their 25+ year history in the region? It’s truly a mystery. Our DMs on facebook and our Contact Form are open and we continue to patiently wait.

Where is Noble?

Ash was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in September 2022. He was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled him. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Northwest Indiana (NWI).

Ash was 7 weeks old and was “rescue only” because he had a bad eye that needed to be removed. Ash came in with a female tabby kitten named Twizzler. There was a singleton/orphan female tabby kitten named Baconator that the Indy shelter added in with them for companionship. Baconator also needed an eye removed. Humane Society of the Dunes pulled all three kittens from IACS.

Humane Society of the Dunes pulled at least 47 cats from IACS between 2019 and 2023. Yet they only ever posted “updates” about 2 cats they’d pulled, both of which were questionable (see our previous posts about Littles and Bucky). Their Facebook page was recently deleted. When donors reached out to the rescue in early 2024 asking for updates on animals they had donated for, Jane stated she would send their letter to her lawyer then stopped responding. They never posted anything about Ash, Twizzler, or Baconator.

We are offering $100 for proof of Ash’s whereabouts today. He’d be 2.5 years old now and missing an eye. He may be with one or both tabbies he was at the shelter with. Please share to help us find out Ash’s outcome.

Webster was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in late 2019 or early 2020. He was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled him. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Northwest Indiana (NWI).

Webster was “rescue only” at the Indy shelter because he’d been surrendered for house soiling after being in a home with multiple cats but only one litterbox. The shelter was awaiting urinalysis results, although he was using the litterbox fine there. He was also having chronic diarrhea. Humane Society of the Dunes in Chesterton, Indiana pulled him from the shelter. They never posted any updates about Webster and their Facebook page was recently deleted. When donors reached out to the rescue in early 2024 asking for updates on animals they had donated for, Jane stated she would send their letter to her lawyer then stopped responding.

We are offering $100 for proof of Webster’s whereabouts today. He’d be 12 years old now, give or take a few years. Please share to help us find out Webster’s outcome.

Harkness was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in September 2022. He was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services before HSotD pulled him. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Northwest Indiana (NWI)

Harkness had a sad story. He was surrendered to the Indy shelter by his first owner, then adopted. When he was adopted in April or May 2022 by his second owner, he weighed 65lbs. When they surrendered him back to the shelter in September, he was only 40lbs. and a staff member described his condition as “skeletal”. His owners were cited for cruelty because there was no medical explanation for his severe weight loss such as a foreign body or illness.

Shelter staff described Harkness as a sweet, wiggly boy who gave kisses and leaned in for affection. Although he had suffered greatly, he was still just a wonderful dog. IACS made him “rescue only” because after two bad homes, they wanted “a rescue who is going to go the extra mile finding his forever home where he can be pampered and loved”.

Humane Society of the Dunes pulled Harkness and several other animals in September 2022 and the director, Jane, told the IACS volunteer transporter that she might keep him. This is the same thing she said about Nixon, Aric, and Queso, none of whom she adopted permanently (she “adopted” Nixon briefly but claimed she rehomed him for getting into a spat with her other dog and chasing her cats).

When a rescue animal leaves the shelter and goes to rescue, traditionally a “freedom ride” photo will be posted to show proof that the animal is on its way to rescue. The IACS Rescue page posted Harkness’s freedom ride photo from Jane on September 27, 2022, the same day he left the shelter. In it he was still visibly underweight.

Post by an IACS volunteer transporter

The top left photo shows Harkness the day he left the shelter in 2022.

A year and a half later, in February 2024, after very infrequently posting anything from their social media for the last several years, Humane Society of the Dunes went on a social media blitz, providing a number of unusual “updates” on mostly IACS animals they had pulled. They posted the same photo of an emaciated Harkness from the day he left the shelter, with the caption, “Harkness was adopted by his foster mom”. For some reason, Jane chose an old photo she took instead of asking Harkness’s foster for a more recent photo, perhaps one where he was back to a healthy weight so his shelter friends and donors could see how much he’d improved. You know, an “update”.

When Jane shared an ‘update’ about Harkness from the (now deleted) Humane Society of the Dunes Facebook page in February 2024, she used a photo she took the day he left the shelter 1.5 years previously.

We are offering a $100 gift to anyone who can provide proof of Harkness’s whereabouts today. If you adopted him, we are just dying to talk to you and will pay for the privilege. You can DM our Facebook page, send us an email, or submit the contact form on our website. Harkness had two really shitty homes before he got “rescued”. There are a lot of people hoping for proof that he finally got what he deserved with Humane Society of the Dunes.

Starlight was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in July 2020. He was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled him. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Northwest Indiana (NWI)

Starlight was “rescue only” and “urgent” at the Indy shelter. He had been found lying on a sidewalk, emaciated and dehydrated. Upon examination at IACS it was determined he had severe dental disease and stomatitis. He was weak and limp and doing very poorly. Humane Society of the Dunes in Chesterton, Indiana pulled him from the shelter. Hopefully Starlight got the medical care he needed.

Humane Society of the Dunes never posted any updates about Starlight and their Facebook page was recently deleted. When donors reached out to the rescue in early 2024 asking for updates on 53 animals (including Starlight) they had donated for, Jane stated she would send their letter to her lawyer then stopped responding. There is an Indiana attorney general investigation through their consumer protection division because donors were concerned about misuse of donations based on lack of updates and the rescue director’s unwillingness to provide updates when asked.

We are offering $100 for proof of Starlight’s whereabouts today. Please share to help us find out what happened to him. If you’ve adopted from or fostered for Humane Society of the Dunes, please reach out to us. There is an anonymous contact form on our website, or you can email us or reach out on Facebook Messenger.

Arnie was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in June 2022. He was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled him. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Northwest Indiana (NWI).

Arnie was “rescue only” at the Indy shelter because he was heartworm positive and was showing symptoms of heart disease including an enlarged heart. Humane Society of the Dunes in Chesterton, Indiana pulled him from the shelter. They never posted any updates about Arnie and their Facebook page was recently deleted. When donors reached out to the rescue in early 2024 asking for updates on 53 animals (including Arnie) they had donated for, Jane stated she would send their letter to her lawyer then stopped responding.

We are offering $100 for proof of Arnie’s whereabouts today. He’d be about 8 years old now, give or take a few years. Please share to help us find out Arnie’s outcome.

Lucy was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in September 2022. She was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled her. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Northwest Indiana (NWI).

Lucy was “rescue only” at the Indy shelter because in addition to being heartworm positive, she also was having some behavioral issues including resource guarding toys and difficulty with leashing. She was able to be handled by staff and volunteers but was not suitable for regular adoption from the shelter. Humane Society of the Dunes in Chesterton, Indiana pulled her from the shelter. They never posted any updates about Lucy and their Facebook page was recently deleted. When donors reached out to the rescue in early 2024 asking for updates on animals they had donated for, Jane stated she would send their letter to her lawyer then stopped responding.

We are offering $100 for proof of Lucy’s whereabouts today. She’d be about 11 years old now, give or take a few years. Please share to help us find out Lucy’s outcome.

Jerry was “rescued” by Humane Society of the Dunes in June 2022. He was originally at IACS Shelter Rescue Team (formerly called IACS Rescue) and Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) before HSotD pulled him. The founder of the rescue is Jane Hullsiek and the rescue is based out of Northwest Indiana (NWI).

Jerry had been at the Indy shelter for several months and was posted as “rescue only” because he was limping and it was determined he would likely need a femoral head ostectomy (FHO) surgery. Humane Society of the Dunes in Chesterton, Indiana pulled him from the shelter. They never posted any updates about Jerry and their Facebook page was recently deleted. When donors reached out to the rescue in early 2024 asking for updates on animals they had donated for, Jane stated she would send their letter to her lawyer then stopped responding.

We are offering $100 for proof of Jerry’s whereabouts today. He’d be 15 years old now, give or take a few years. Please share to help us find out Jerry’s outcome.