A male Husky mix killed a baby skunk near his family’s Far Westside home in San Antonio in late July. The encounter went unreported, and weeks passed before the dog developed behavioral and neurological changes.
On Aug. 18, 2026, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District laboratory confirmed that the dog had rabies. San Antonio Animal Care Services and Metro Health described it as Bexar County’s first reported rabies case in a pet dog in more than a decade.
The case matters because a pet can appear normal while the rabies virus moves through the nervous system toward the brain. Once neurological symptoms develop, rabies is almost always fatal.
Officials did not identify the dog or his owners. They also did not provide the dog’s vaccination status, treatment or ultimate outcome, so none of those details can be assumed.
Wildlife contact should be reported immediately
The diagnosis came amid an increase in confirmed wildlife rabies. Officials counted 22 wildlife cases in San Antonio and Bexar County during June and July 2026, compared with two to three cases during the same months in both 2024 and 2025.
Bats, skunks, foxes and raccoons are important rabies reservoirs in the United States. Rabies most commonly spreads when saliva from an infected animal enters a person or another animal through a bite or another type of exposure.
San Antonio officials are urging residents to report pet encounters with wildlife immediately rather than waiting for illness. A potentially exposed dog or cat should be confined to prevent additional contact with people and animals while animal-control or public-health officials evaluate what happened.
That evaluation includes checking the pet’s vaccination status. Texas requires dogs and cats to receive a rabies vaccination by 4 months of age, administered by a licensed veterinarian, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
For exposure decisions, the state considers an animal currently vaccinated once at least 30 days have passed since its initial vaccination and the latest shot remains within the manufacturer’s recommended booster interval. Local rules may require more frequent vaccination, so owners should check the due date on the veterinary certificate rather than relying on memory.
Do not handle suspect wildlife
Owners should not pick up an injured or dead wild animal themselves. Animal control or public-health authorities can determine whether the animal can be safely contained, collected and tested.
Trying to capture or move wildlife can create another exposure. It also can complicate testing, which is why residents should leave handling and specimen preparation to qualified personnel.
If a person may have been exposed through a bite, scratch or contact with saliva, officials advise washing the affected area thoroughly with soap and water and promptly contacting a healthcare provider. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that public-health professionals conduct a risk assessment to determine whether rabies post-exposure prophylaxis is needed.
When recommended for someone who has not previously received rabies vaccination, that preventive care includes wound care, human rabies immune globulin and a vaccine series. Recommendations differ for people who were previously vaccinated or are immunocompromised, making professional evaluation important.
People and other pets potentially exposed through the Husky mix’s case were offered appropriate rabies prophylaxis. That response occurred only after the dog developed symptoms and the infection was confirmed.
The safer sequence begins much earlier: report the wildlife encounter, confine the pet, avoid handling the wild animal and verify the pet’s rabies vaccination record. A brief encounter can carry consequences weeks later, even when a dog initially appears unaffected. What would you do if your dog were in this situation? Share your thoughts in the comments.
By Sarah Mitchell — 8 years as a local-news reporter covering animal welfare, shelters, neighborhood disputes, and public-safety pet stories.
