BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WECT) – A 14-year-old lab will be “humanely euthanized” after being attacked by a rabid raccoon off of Stone Chimney Road recently.

The raccoon attacked the dog in the Supply area on Tuesday, according to a news release from the Brunswick County Health Department. The raccoon was reportedly shot by the dog’s owner and sent to the state lab for testing.

The results came back positive on Thursday, the news release stated.

The dog was not current on its rabies vaccination and the owner was given the option of having his dog quarantined for six months at his expense. If the dog was current on its rabies vaccination, it would have just need a booster vaccination.

The Brunswick County Health Department supplied the following precautions to avoid exposure to rabies:

• Make sure all pets (cats and dogs) have been vaccinated and keep the vaccinations current.
• Do not harbor or feed stray dogs and cats. This provides a possible means of transmission of the rabies virus from wildlife (raccoons and foxes, etc.) to human beings.
• Reports and seek treatment for all animal bites (legally required).

For more information, call 910-754-8204.

Copyright 2012 WECT. All rights reserved.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WECT) – Two schools in Brunswick County have teamed up with four legged friends to promote students’ love of reading.

Bolivia Elementary school is working with BARK (Brunswick Area Responsible Kanine) and Supply Elementary School is working with Canines for Literacy.

The goal of the reading program is to help students build confidence when reading aloud.  Reading to a dog helps remove the stress of making a mistake and allows the student to focus on ready fluently and with expression.

According to Jessica B. Swencki with Brunswick County Schools, volunteers with the program read several books per week with each student.

Dogs visiting Supply Elementary are simultaneously being trained as therapy dogs that will eventually live with and assist an individual with their daily needs.

Copyright 2011 WECT. All rights reserved.

BOLIVIA, NC (WECT) –  A beautiful, homeless lab now has a new family to love in a happy tail from wags to riches .

Annie came into the Brunswick County Animal shelter as an older stray dog, riddled with health issues including worms, ear infections and a urinary tract infection.  The majority of animals adopted from shelters are puppies or young adults, so Annie’s chances of finding a new home were unlikely.

A twist of fate, however, was in Annie’s cards. A man named Mr. Moss went to the Brunswick County Animal Services inquiring about another older lab that he had heard about; but after seeing Annie, he was immediately smitten. 

Mr. Moss brought back his wife back the next day to see how she felt about Annie.  While they were both concerned with Annie’s health issues, with every minute they spent with her, they knew in their hearts that they were going to adopt her.