Newton County Sheriff’s deputies are trying to figure out exactly how two raccoons got inside a home to attack a 9-month old baby that was sleeping in a crib in the same room as its mother. The baby remained in critical condition in an Atlanta hospital Thursday; it has to be vaccinated for rabies, WSB Radio is reporting.
Deputies went to the Brook Hollow Way home around 4 a.m. Wednesday after the mother called 911 to say that her little girl had been bitten by a pair of raccoons, Lt. Tyrone Oliver said.
The baby, who had been bitten severely on her head and other parts of her body, was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston, where she remains in critical condition, Oliver said.
The raccoons were outside the family’s house when deputies arrived, Oliver said. One became aggressive and was shot twice by a deputy, Oliver said. That raccoon ran away, and authorities do not know whether it was rabid, authorities told WSB Radio.
The other raccoon tested negative for rabies, WSB Radio said.
Oliver said Wednesday’s case is an isolated incident.
“It’s very disturbing,” he told the AJC. “In my 12 years here, I never came across a case of a 9-month-old, sleeping in her crib, in the room with her mother, and then being attacked. It’s very sad.”
Oliver said deputies are investigating whether the family was keeping them in the home and treating them as pets.
“We’re looking into that and determining whether that’s true,” he said.
Charges are pending, if that is the case, he said.
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