Fort Wayne, Indiana Animal Care and Control

The Fort Wayne, Indiana Animal Care and Control is a municipal animal care and control shelter. Its basic function is to protect public safety from animals, as well as provide shelter for neglected and abused animals. In order to achieve these goals and minimize the need, improvements in the community have to be established and maintained. This is done through law enforcement and community education.

Law enforcement is necessary in establishing standards for proper pet ownership by preventing cruelty and protecting the public. A couple major requirements for Fort Wayne is rabies vaccinations and being a registered pet. According to the Fort Wayne Animal Controls web site, "All dogs, cats, and ferrets must be vaccinated against rabies in the state of Indiana beginning at the age of three months. The animal's first vaccination is good for one year. Dogs and cats may receive three year rabies vaccines after that. Ferrets must continue to be vaccinated annually." Requiring vaccinations helps protect animals against these vicious illnesses, as well as protects people from obtaining them through being bitten by an ill animal. Vaccinations go hand in hand with Fort Wayne's requirement for all dogs and cats to be registered with the state. Proof of registration means that the pet should be wearing 2 tags on their collar. One tag signifies the rabies vaccination and the other signifies being registered. Registration fees are $5 for animals that are altered (spayed or neutered), but $100 for unaltered pets. This is another important step that Fort Wayne takes to prevent animal cruelty and helps protect the public. Higher fees are charged for unaltered animals to help deter people from allowing their pets to excessively breed and add to pet overpopulation. Pet overpopulation is what causes animals to be sent to animal control centers in the first place. Enforcing these laws is important to the health of the animals, as well as public safety.

Other than implementing laws for current problems, the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control takes it a step further by educating the community to prevent animal abuse from occurring and making people into responsible pet owners. They offer several tours to schools and scouts in educating them on current legislation and how to care for animals responsibly. One exceptional education opportunity is their Learning For Life and Animal Careers Explorer Post Program. It is for teens ages 13-21 to participate and gives them opportunities to learn about the most current information on animal welfare careers. Its a great opportunity for teens to get hands on experience with animals and decide if a career in the animal welfare field is right for them. The Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control has several programs dedicated to the education of animal welfare for the community.

Clearly, the law enforcement and educational programs they offer are a great benefit to society and the communities economy. By having these, it helps protect the community from being injured by animals and teaching them to have responsibility for their pets. By offering such a great program to teens in the area, they are encouraging youth to learn. By encouraging them to learn, they are setting up foundations for learning for their possible careers in the future and helping make them into useful members of society. This extra guidance might be exactly what it took to get some students more interested in learning and into a field that was appropriate for them. In the long run, it may have the effects of increasing employment by encouraging employability of youth. It is important for communities to have programs such as these to enable learning outside of school and to become more familiar with fields of study before actually deciding what is the right choice for them when it might not really be the right choice.

For more information on the educational opportunities of the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control, visit their website at http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/index.php?.option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=39