© 2025 Northeast Indiana Public Radio
A 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Public File 89.1 WBOI

Listen Now · on iPhone · on Android
NPR News and Diverse Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Support for WBOI.org comes from:

Humane Fort Wayne receives $1 million grant to expand vet services

A kitten at Humane Fort Wayne peers through the holes in its kennel. The grant from PetSmart Charities will help boost spay-neuter capabilities at the shelter to cut down on cat capacity at the shelter.
Ella Abbott
/
WBOI News
A kitten at Humane Fort Wayne peers through the holes in its kennel. The grant from PetSmart Charities will help boost spay-neuter capabilities at the shelter to cut down on cat capacity at the shelter.

Humane Fort Wayne is working to expand their pet wellness services with a million dollar grant from PetSmart Charities.

The grant will support the expansion of Humane Fort Wayne’s Maycrest Drive clinic and help convert the clinic to a fully public-facing affordable spay/neuter surgical center.

Humane Fort Wayne community relations manager Melissa Gibson said the grant will allow them to double their surgical capacity by keeping the Maycrest clinic open.

“Cause one of the biggest cries that we’ve been hearing from the community is it’s taking us three, and four, and five months to book and we get that. And we know that’s not helping overpopulation, that’s not helping shelter issues and overcrowding, or any of it," she said. "So, we’ll have full time veterinarians operating in both facilities, five days a week.”

Currently, Humane Fort Wayne does most of the low cost spay-neuter surgeries for the area, according Gibson, including some parts of Michigan and Ohio.

She said the next phase is to expand services outside of just preventative care and into acute illness treatment. The shelter plans to make the Maycrest clinic appointment only for easily treatable acute illnesses and humane euthanasia services.

Ella Abbott is a multimedia reporter for 89.1 WBOI. She is a strong believer in the ways audio storytelling can engage an audience and create a sensory experience.