Rabid Raccoon Enters Home Through Pet Door, Attacks Dog

A rabid raccoon entered a Virginia home through a pet door and attacked a small dog.

Stephen Black told 8News his dog, Charlie, suffered a minor injury and must quarantine for 45 days, but he's grateful the attack wasn't worse.

She's got a lot of fight, Black said.

The dog in question started barking like crazy at 7 in the morning. I was in the shower, Black said. I went downstairs to let him out and I found my mom holding her dog... bloody.

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The raccoon had made its way through the house and down into Black's mother's basement bedroom.

She's 83 and almost blind so I was worried about her, Black said. The dog jumped on the raccoon and then she wanted to separate the dog and protect the dog whereas she's not able to do that.

During the fight, Black says his mother grabbed a stick like a backscratcher and tried to beat the raccoon with it. Charlie fought off the raccoon and fortunately only suffered a minor injury.

At that point, the raccoon had gone and hidden in the bathroom, Black said. She's an older dog and she had an injury to her mouth where she actually lost a tooth fighting the raccoon, but the vet didn't find any bite injuries.

Henrico County Animal Care and Control put down the raccoon. It later tested positive for rabies — the first case of the year, according to Henrico police.

I certainly wouldn't wish it on anybody to be the first case, Black said. We're gonna block the dog door at night in the meantime.

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