Be wary of raccoons and the diseases they spread

There’s a masked bandit in town who steals food, raids trash cans and carries diseases that affect pets and people. Raccoons are common in both city and rural environments and they spread potentially fatal diseases as well as create a public nuisance.

They are smart and adaptive creatures. Avoid any contact with them by eliminating places for them to find shelter or food. That means never leaving pet food outside. Rabies is a serious problem, and raccoons bring the potential for infection from wooded areas to the backyard of every homeowner.

Vaccinating dogs and cats for rabies is the responsibility of every owner, and veterinarians vaccinate and revaccinate according to strict guidelines to protect the public. Just this week I heard from a client whose neighbor stepped out the front door to find a live raccoon 3 feet from her. Luckily she was not attacked. The raccoon tested positive for rabies.

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and the Allegheny County Health Department have a program to bait wooded areas with oral rabies vaccine to inoculate raccoons. These packets should not be handled, but they will not cause a problem if found by dogs. Raccoons often live in sheds, under porches and on roofs. Pittsburgh Animal Care and Control will only send officers to pick up sick raccoons and those acting abnormally with neurological signs.

Raccoons also carry Baylisascaris procyonis, a type of roundworm that causes a potentially fatal disease for many animals, including humans. Unsuspecting people contact raccoon stool that is