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Florida boy bitten by raccoon while defending dog, family says
A boy, his dog, and a raccoon. A Lake County, Florida family says the three came together during a scary incident Friday as 11-year-old Sawyer took his pup Olive out for a walk.
SORRENTO, Fla. - A boy, his dog, and a raccoon. A Lake County, Florida family says the three came together during a scary incident Friday as 11-year-old Sawyer took his pup Olive out for a walk.
"A raccoon just came out of nowhere. Olive saw it and she charged toward it. She started barking and then bit it," Sawyer explained.
Sawyer says Olive then started yelping, and he got scared that she was hurt - so he stepped in.
"It was like a glass beer bottle right next to where it happened, so I picked it up and started hitting the raccoon in the head until it got knocked out. I picked it up by its neck to bring it home," Sawyer told FOX 35 News.
That’s when the Sorrento family says Sawyer was bitten on the arm. He got back to the house with Olive and the raccoon – and called his mom.
"He said, ‘Mom, something really bad happened," Christina Inman recalled.
Inman says she took Sawyer to the ER for rabies shots. Olive was up-to-date on vaccines and should be okay. The family contacted health officials about the attack.
They came to pick up the raccoon, which is currently being tested for rabies and distemper.
Inman wants to get to work out, so other people in this area don’t get hurt.
"Kids walk animals all the time out here by themselves. I wouldn’t have thought about it. Super scary," she said.
The family says once they know if the raccoon was rabid, they’ll determine whether Sawyer needs additional shots.
We reached out to county health officials to see if they plan on issuing a rabies alert and haven’t heard back.