In 2022, 1,242 animal bites were reported; 500 were animal victims and 742 were human victims. Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control received a $20,000 grant to support a four-session pet body language and behavior workshop to help reduce those numbers.
The grant was awarded to the shelter by Mars Petcare’s BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ program. This grant is to help cities assist pet parents facing challenges keeping and caring for their pets.
Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control’s initiative is to reduce bites while educating and supporting the ambitions of the Better Cities for Pets program to keep people and their pets together. The focus is reducing bites, avoiding euthanizing animals, and providing resources that create a safer community for citizens and pets.
“The body language and behavior workshop are designed with the intent to provide our community with the knowledge to learn how pets communicate. Our overarching goal is to reduce the number of bites that often occur because signals were missed or misread. Providing people with this awareness will help to keep people and their pets together while reducing the number of incidents resulting in a bite,” states Director Amy-Jo Sites.
