Dennis Papenmeier, recently appointed administrator of Indianapolis Animal Care & Control, apparently has already run aground of city politics. The new chief of the embattled agency, who attended the awards presentation for the move to ACT Rescue Rally in February, has been placed on administrative leave for unspecified reasons, and no one at the Department of Public Safety is talking.
Since Papenmeier has expressed interest in and concern for the welfare of the animals, one can only assume he has ticked off the powers that be. Putting the animals first has not gone well for previous administrators, as former administrator Doug Rae (dismissed after 8 months in 2009) would attest. Secrecy surrounds the “internal investigation” that led to Papenmeier’s indefinite leave, which was revealed in a small article in The Indianapolis Star on May 1.
Papenmeier was appointed to the post in December. Previously, the veteran city employee had been special projects manager at the Department of Code Enforcement. He is the 11th IACC administrator in 12 years.
What are city officials not telling us this time?