A Dallas 10-year-old is undergoing preventative rabies treatments after being bitten in Farmers Branch by a skunk which tested positive for rabies.
The boy was bitten in the ankle by the rabid skunk Saturday morning, according to the Farmers Branch Department of Environmental Health.
The skunk apparently wandered through an open door on the back side of the Knights of Columbus Center, in the 2800 block of Springlake Road, while vendors were busy setting up for Repticon - a reptile convention held over the weekend.
"One story is one of the people were petting it, one of the men was petting it then set it down, or saw it going across his feet, thought it was somebody's pet skunk and then it went over to the kid and I guess the kid started petting it and that's when he got bitten on the ankle," Stacy Wright, Director of Environmental Health, explained.
After biting the boy, people were able to corral the skunk inside of a closet until animal control officers could come and euthanize the animal, according to Wright.
A test conducted in Austin on the skunk confirmed the animal was rabid, Wright said.
Given the odd behavior of the animal prior to biting the child, Wright said he is concerned it may have approached more people and exposed them to rabies.
