• Wash the bite well with soap and water right away.
  
  
• See a health care provider as soon as possible.
  
  
• They will treat the wound to help prevent rabies and for good healing.
  
  
• You may need a tetanus shot if you haven’t had one in 5 years.
  
  
• Human rabies immune globulin (HRIG) and rabies vaccine may be recommended.

If a rabies vaccine is recommended, three more vaccines are needed after the first visit. Finish the vaccine series to be fully protected from rabies.

If you have insurance, call your clinic for a care plan.

If you do not have insurance:

• Urgent care centers are less expensive than the Emergency Room.
  
  
• Call first to be sure they have enough vaccine and are able to see you.
  
  
• At Urgent Care, ask to speak to Patient Resources for help with the cost of the visit and follow-up care. Vaccine companies can help uninsured and underinsured patients. They give vaccine for free to patients without health insurance who qualify. Ask the urgent care if they participate in the program for free vaccine and rabies immunoglobulin.

If the bite occurred in Eau Claire County, report the bite to the Eau Claire Communications Center at (715)-839-4972. After a report is completed by Animal Control, the case will be forwarded to the Eau Claire City-County Health Department. 

Call Eau Claire Communications Center at (715) 839-4972 and say you are calling to report an animal bite.

1. If you don't know the animal's owner, or it was a stray or wild animal, tell animal control as much as you can about the animal to make it easier for the officer to find it. Include what it looked like, where you saw it, and if you’ve seen the animal before.
   
   
2. Dispatch will give your information to an animal control officer who will follow-up with you about the bite. Animal Control is on duty from 8am-10pm, 7 days a week, however you can call to report a bite at any time by calling the communication center at (715)-839-4972.

It is important to find the animal that bit. We need to know if it has been vaccinated for rabies or determine if it could have rabies if it has not been vaccinated.

If an animal owner is not identified: Our staff will conduct follow-up with the victim to gather as much descriptive information about the animal and animal owner (if present). We ask a standard list of questions to obtain a description of the animal and animal owner to include in our press release.

• Treat all bites like a car crash: check to see if the bite broke the skin, and exchange name and phone number with the owner. Don’t wait to check the bite when you get home. It may be too late to find the owner and rabies shots may be needed.
  
  
• Find out if the pet is up to date on rabies shots by asking the owner to call their vet.
  
  • If you don't have owner information, or the animal has left the area, Animal Control will help you try to capture or find the animal or animal owner.
    
    
• All dogs and cats that have bitten a person need to be quarantined for 10 days and checked by a vet for signs of rabies.
  • If the pet is up to date on rabies vaccination, the animal will be placed in a 10-day home quarantine. 
  • If the pet is NOT up to date on rabies vaccination, the animal will be placed in a 10-day vet quarantine. The animal will have to be boarded at a vet facility for 10 days after the bite.
    
    
• If the animal shows no signs of rabies after 10 days, it was not able to transmit the rabies virus when it bit you and you do not need rabies shots.
  
  
• If the animal is not located or shows signs of rabies, you may need to see a doctor to get post exposure treatment.
  
  Here is a list of local veterinary offices.  

• Watch the animal so that it can be captured. It is ok for you to capture the animal if you can do so without being bitten again.
  
  
• If you need to kill the animal, don't damage the head. The animal head will be sent to a lab for rabies testing. If the animal can't immediately be sent to the lab, keep it cool because heat and time break down tissue needed for testing.
  
  
• Contact the Eau Claire County Humane Association if you need to rent out a live trap to try and capture the animal or call a pest control company for assistance.
  
  
• City of Eau Claire Animal Control may be able to help capture a bat if there was a known exposure to a human. Call the communication center at (715)-839-4972 and ask to speak with animal control about a bat exposure. Animal Control is on duty from 8am-10pm, 7 days a week. 
  
  
• If the rabies test is positive, you should receive rabies shots as soon as possible.
  
  
• If the rabies test is negative, you were not exposed to rabies at the time of the bite.
  
  
• If the animal was not captured or if the test came back indeterminate (uncertain), talk to your doctor. You may need to start rabies shots as soon as possible.

*What you need to know about bats

Most bats don’t have rabies. But you can’t tell just by looking at the bat. Bat bites are hard to detect because their teeth are small and bite marks can disappear quickly.

If you wake up to a bat in your room, or in the room of an unattended child, pet, or mentally impaired or intoxicated person, take action. It may not be apparent they were bitten.  

Safely capture the bat without harming it. Bats can hide very well and need to be captured for rabies testing . DON'T SET IT FREE. If you capture a bat between 8:00am and 4:00pm, call the Eau Claire City-County Health Department at (715)-839-4718. If you capture a bat between 4:00pm and 8:00am, keep the bat in a safe and secure place (ice cream pail or coffee can) and call the Eau Claire City-County Health Department at 8:00am the next day to arrange dropping off the bat. 

If you are sure that no people or pets have come in contact with the bat:

• Confine it to a room by closing all doors and windows, except those leading outside, giving it a chance to leave.
• Be extremely careful so you don't get bitten.

Here are instructions on how to capture a bat.

If bitten by a wild animal:

• Have your pet seen  by a veterinarian as soon as possible.
  
  
• Your pet will be quarantined  if it was possibly exposed to a rabid animal. It must be isolated at home and kept away from other animals and have limited contact with humans.
  
  
• There are two types of quarantines for pets that may have been exposed to a rabid animal:
  • 60-day quarantine:  A pet that has had all of its rabies shots is put in a 60-day quarantine.  It will immediately get re-vaccinated for rabies.
  • 6-month quarantine: A pet that has not had all of its rabies shots is put in a 6-month quarantine. The owner shall have the animal vaccinated against rabies immediately. If the pet is suspected of having rabies, it will need to be tested.

Many animal bites that are reported in Eau Claire County are from dogs. Dogs can bite for a variety of reasons such as fear, physical ailments, and often accidentally while playing.

In 2022, we responded to 154 animal bites.

Learn how to prevent bites and how being a responsible dog owner can help reduce bites from happening.

• Be aware of your environment. Scan outside and inside a home for dogs before entering.
  
  
• Understand dog behavior. Use caution around barking dogs. Dogs may be protective of their owners. They can also be protective around children, their toys, and their food. Any dog can have a trigger, like a doorbell, a delivery person, etc.
  
  
• Be careful of your behavior. Don’t stare directly at dogs. Don’t turn your back on it and don’t pet it unless you ask first. Talk to dogs in a calm voice.
  
  
• Understand dog drives. Some dogs, like people, have dominant personalities. Others are fearful or have strong prey drives.
  
  
• Preventing Dog Bites, American Veterinary Medical Association
  
  
• Mouthing, Nipping and Biting in Puppies, ASPCA

Vaccination

Prevention

• Avoid wild animals.
• Avoid any animal with symptoms of rabies.
• Do not approach or touch unfamiliar animals.
• Block any openings into your house that an animal may get through.
• Keep tamper-proof lids on outside garbage cans so animals are not attracted to your property.

Vaccination

Prevention

Keep wild and unfamiliar animals away from your pets.

Information about rabies and how to prevent it.

• Provide consultation and information to the public on controlling animals capable of causing or transmitting disease to humans.
  
  
• Investigate and enforce state, city and county rules regarding animal infestation problems of public health importance.
  
  
• Provide consultation and other resources to address animal diseases.
  
  
• Partner with the Eau Claire City Police Department and County Humane Association to enforce city and county regulations on reported animal bites and pet quarantines. Follow up is done for cases of animal bites to humans by requiring a 10-day quarantine of the animal or laboratory testing to rule out rabies infections.
  
  
• Advise the public and health care clinicians on appropriate measures to take when an individual is bitten by a domestic pet or a wild animal, and the appropriate preventative measure when following up on potential rabies cases.

If you have questions about animal bites and rabies, please call 715) 839-4718 or email  ECHDlab@eauclairecounty.gov.

Step One

Fill out WI Premises Registration form (no cost). https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/PremisesRegistration.aspx

Step Two

Apply for a City of Eau Claire license.
https://www.eauclairewi.gov/government/our-divisions/financial-operations/licensing
License application must include:

• Number of planned poultry
• Plan to dispose of manure and other wastes
• Intended coop design materials
• Diagram describing location of the coop and any attached run/enclosure in relationship to lot boundaries and nearby structures.

Step Three

Health Department will inspect the completed coop and the City of Eau Claire will notify property owners within 100 feet of your property.

Step Four

Receive your license if all conditions are met:

• The license period is from January 1– December 31.
• Licenses must be renewed annually and are not refundable or transferable.

• Poultry must be kept in a coop or attached run/enclosure at all times (free roaming not allowed).
  
  
• Poultry may not be kept on a vacant lot or inside any residential structure, including home, basement, porch, garage, or shed.

Coop must be located in the back or side yard of the license holder’s property and must be:

• 10 feet from any property line
• 25 feet from residential structure on adjacent lot
• 5 feet from any structure on your own property
• Minimum of 2 feet from all lot lines (street, alley)

• Coops should be a stand alone structure used only for poultry and following city building and zoning ordinances.
  
  
• Poultry coops must be built with moisture-resistant materials and include:
  • Proper ventilation
  • Insulation
  • Roof
  • Hard, cleanable floor foundation and footings (e.g. concrete, wood, linoleum, or hard plastic) Dirt floor isn’t acceptable
  • Wire netting that covers the run/enclosure to prevent poultry from escaping and deters predators
  • A minimum of 3 square feet per bird
  • Coop height of 8 feet or less

• Coops must be kept clean, tidy, and not cause a noise, odor, or health nuisance to the property or neighbors.
  
  
• Poultry feed must be stored to prevent access by pests or birds.
  
  
• All waste, including manure, must be disposed of in a safe and adequate manner that doesn’t create a public nuisance (composting is acceptable).

Many poultry carry bacteria that could make you and your family sick.

• Always wash your hands after handling poultry, cleaning poultry coops, or being around the coop even if you did not touch the birds.
• Don’t kiss or snuggle your poultry.
• Don’t let your birds inside your home, porch, or storage buildings.

Poultry must not cause any nuisance, unhealthy condition, public health threat, or otherwise interfere with the normal use of property or enjoyment of life by humans or animals.

Any person keeping poultry must immediately report any unusual illness or death of poultry to the Health Department by calling 715-839-4718.

Can I use poultry manure to fertilize my garden?

Yes, but only after composting in an enclosed container (aerobic bins allowed). Direct application of non-composted manure and composting in open air piles are not allowed.

Am I able to gift or sell my extra eggs?

The poultry ordinance’s main goal is to allow for the production of eggs for personal use.

• If your poultry produce more eggs than you can use, you can gift them to neighbors, family, and friends. You’re required to keep a journal of who you have given eggs to (include name and contact information). Egg Tracking Log
• Commercial sale of eggs is NOT allowed on site. To sell eggs, contact Eau Claire City-County Health Department for a retail license.

Can I use a portion of my garage or shed to keep poultry?

Poultry can’t be kept in any residential buildings, including storage sheds or garages. However, you can repurpose an existing structure if you only use it as a coop; and are able to modify it so that all applicable coop location and design requirements are met.

How do I handle eggs safely?

Please see our printable flyer: How to Keep Eggs Safe