On Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 12:19 pm, Gaston County Police Animal Care and Enforcement received a call regarding a positive rabies specimen from Griffin Animal Disease Laboratories in Monroe, NC.
On Saturday, May 28, 2022 at 9:02 am, Gaston County Police Animal Care and Enforcement responded to a call for service in the area of Hamilton Drive off Old Providence Road in Gastonia, NC where a raccoon was found. It was alert and responsive, but appeared unable to move. Carolina Wildlife agreed to take the raccoon, but later determined that it was too sick to rehabilitate. The raccoon specimen was sent to Griffin Laboratories where it tested positive for rabies.
Animal Care and Enforcement completed a neighborhood canvas in the area of Hamilton Drive, Gastonia, NC to notify the community of the positive rabies result and to verify rabies vaccinations for family animals in the area. Gaston County Animal Care and Enforcement also notified the Gaston County Department Health and Human Services.
The Gaston County Police Animal Care and Enforcement stresses the importance of having an up-to-date rabies vaccination for all of your pets. By keeping your pet’s current on their rabies vaccines, you are protecting them from contracting the disease from wildlife and spreading the disease to your family and other animals and people in the community.
This represents the fifth confirmed rabies case in Gaston County this year.
No further information is available at this time.