KINGS MOUNTAIN––Gaston County has had its fifth confirmed case of rabies for the year.

That’s the word just in from the Gaston County Police Department. In a Wednesday afternoon release, the GCPD informs the incident occurred Sept. 20. That Friday at about 4 p.m., GCPD Animal Care and Enforcement received a call from the 2300 block of County Line Road in the Gaston County portion of Kings Mountain. This was in regard to a dead raccoon, found in a resident’s yard and possibly killed by one of the family dogs. There was no human contact with the raccoon, and the owner of the four dogs didn’t see any of them interacting with the raccoon. 

GCPD Animal Care and Enforcement specialists investigated the incident and took in the raccoon carcass that same day. The carcass was sent to the North Carolina Laboratory of Public Health in Raleigh, when the lab opened on Monday. The official laboratory results were received on Tuesday around 12:45 pm, and they indicated that the raccoon tested positive for rabies. As a precaution, each of the four dogs received a rabies booster shot from a veterinarian.

GCPD Animal Care and Enforcement completed a neighborhood canvass in the area of County Line Road to notify residents of the positive rabies results and verify rabies vaccinations for family animals in the area. GCPD Animal Care and Enforcement staffers also notified the Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services about the incident.

Members of the Gaston County Police Department Animal Care and Enforcement Division stress the importance of having valid rabies vaccinations for all your pets’ health and safety, as well as the health and safety of their owners and community.