A raccoon that encountered a family's dogs after wandering into a yard in south Gastonia on Wednesday tested positive for rabies, police said Saturday.
The two dogs killed the raccoon outside the home in the 1300 block of Dumbarton Road, Capt. Kyle Yancey of the Gaston County Police Animal Care and Enforcement division said in a news release.
The dogs were current on their rabies vaccination, and both received a booster shot after the 7 a.m. encounter, Yancey said. No humans were around when the dogs killed the raccoon, he said.
Police did not release the breeds of the dogs.
Officers impounded the raccoon on Wednesday. The animal was sent to the N.C. Laboratory of Public Health in Raleigh on Thursday, and tests results on Friday said the animal was rabid.
An officer alerted neighbors Friday to the positive test and verified rabies vaccinations for family pets in the area, Yancey said.
The raccoon was the second confirmed rabies case in the county this year, police said.