Raccoon killed by pet dogs in south Charlotte did not have rabies -- another one did

A raccoon first reported to be rabid did not have rabies after all -- another one in south Charlotte did, Mecklenburg County animal control officials said Wednesday.

Two pet dogs killed the raccoon in a south Charlotte yard, prompting a neighborhood alert by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Animal Care & Control Division on Tuesday night.

The yard is on Larkfield Lane, off Old Pineville Road.

A lab that tested separate specimens from two raccoons that were suspected of having rabies in Mecklenburg County “inadvertently reported (the results) incorrectly” back to the county, according to an Animal Care & Control news release on Wednesday.

“The raccoon from Larkfield Lane 28210 DID NOT TEST POSITIVE for rabies,” officials said in the release. “That alert can be canceled.”

The raccoon that did test positive for rabies was attacked by a family’s pet dog on Sunday in the Brookfield Place neighborhood, off Alexander Road and Providence Road in south Charlotte ZIP code 28270, animal control officials said.

The dog, which attacked the raccoon in the family’s car port, was current on its rabies vaccination.

This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 8:20 PM.