Dogs quarantined after encounter with rabid skunk in Marshfield

MARSHFIELD, Mass. — Animal control officials in Marshfield have quarantined two dogs that encountered a rabid skunk.

The Patriot Ledger reports that resident Laurie DePina saw a skunk hissing at her dogs from outside her fenced-in yard earlier this month.

She says she threw a towel on the skunk, but it crawled underneath her fence to attack her pets. One dog grabbed the skunk in its mouth and began walking around the yard with it.

The skunk was later confirmed to have rabies.

The dog that bit the skunk received a booster shot and both were placed under quarantine for 45 days. Neither dog has shown symptoms of rabies.

Police say it was the town's first confirmed case of rabies in about 15 years.

Associated Press