A Dog Tests Positive for Rabies in San Antonio for the First Time in More Than a Decade

The dog reportedly killed a baby skunk weeks before developing neurological signs. Now San Antonio officials are warning pet owners that the region is experiencing an unusual surge in wildlife rabies—and that encounters with wildlife should never be ignored.

A seemingly brief encounter between a dog and a baby skunk has become a sobering reminder of why veterinarians continue to take rabies so seriously.

A male Husky mix in San Antonio has tested positive for rabies after reportedly killing a baby skunk near his family's Far Westside home in late July. The wildlife encounter wasn't reported at the time. In the weeks that followed, the dog began developing concerning behavioral and neurological changes.

On August 18, the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District laboratory confirmed the diagnosis.

The case is particularly significant because, according to San Antonio Animal Care Services and Metro Health, it is the first reported case of rabies in a pet dog in Bexar County in more than a decade. People and other pets potentially exposed as a result of the case have been offered appropriate rabies prophylaxis. 

But this isn't simply an isolated case involving one dog. San Antonio and Bexar County are currently experiencing a significant increase in rabies among wildlife, making the dog's diagnosis part of a much larger public and veterinary health story.

Rabies Is Surging in Local Wildlife

San Antonio officials say 22 cases of wildlife rabies were reported during June and July 2026. For comparison, only two to three cases were reported during those same months in 2024 and 2025. 

That's a dramatic increase, and it changes the significance of an encounter that pet owners might otherwise dismiss.

A dog catching a skunk in the yard may look like an unfortunate but ordinary wildlife encounter. A cat bringing home a bat might seem like another unpleasant gift left on the porch. During a period of elevated rabies activity, however, those encounters can potentially become medical emergencies.

The San Antonio case demonstrates why what happens after the wildlife encounter matters so much.

Had the dog's interaction with the skunk been reported when it occurred, animal health and public health officials could have evaluated the circumstances, determined the dog's vaccination status and recommended the appropriate next steps. Instead, the encounter went unreported, and weeks later the dog began showing neurological and behavioral abnormalities. 

By then, the situation had changed dramatically.

Once Rabies Symptoms Appear, There Is Almost No Going Back

Rabies remains one of the most frightening infectious diseases veterinarians encounter because the difference between prevention and clinical disease is so profound.

The virus can infect mammals, including dogs, cats, wildlife and humans. In the United States, wildlife species including bats, skunks, foxes and raccoons are important reservoirs. Transmission most commonly occurs when saliva from an infected animal enters the body through a bite or another exposure.

After infection, the virus travels through the nervous system toward the brain. There can be a period between exposure and illness when an animal appears normal, which is one reason owners may underestimate the significance of an encounter that happened weeks earlier.

Once neurological symptoms develop, however, rabies is almost always fatal. 

That's what makes the timeline in this case particularly important. The dog didn't necessarily become obviously ill immediately after killing the skunk. The concerning behavioral and neurological signs appeared in the weeks that followed.

For veterinarians, that history—particularly recent contact with a skunk, bat, raccoon, fox or other wildlife—can completely change how a neurologic patient needs to be approached.

This Is Why We Vaccinate Healthy Pets

Rabies vaccination can sometimes feel different from other preventive veterinary recommendations because most pet owners have never personally seen a rabid dog or cat.

That's actually a success story.

Vaccination requirements and widespread use of rabies vaccines have dramatically changed the epidemiology of canine rabies in the United States. But eliminating routine rabies transmission among domestic dogs doesn't mean the virus has disappeared. It continues to circulate in wildlife, creating opportunities for pets to become exposed.

San Antonio's current situation illustrates that relationship perfectly. Wildlife cases have surged, and now a pet dog has tested positive.

City officials emphasized that keeping dogs and cats current on rabies vaccination is one of the most effective ways owners can protect them. Both San Antonio and Texas law require dogs and cats to remain current on legally required rabies vaccinations. 

For veterinary teams, this is also an opportunity to remind clients that the rabies vaccine isn't simply a box to check for licensing or boarding.

It's there for the day the dog finds a skunk in the backyard.

The Wildlife Encounter Is the Part Owners Need to Report

Perhaps the biggest lesson from this case isn't simply “vaccinate your pets.” It's what owners should do when an encounter actually happens.

San Antonio officials are urging residents to immediately report interactions between pets and wildlife rather than waiting to see whether the pet becomes sick. A pet that may have encountered potentially rabid wildlife should also be confined to prevent additional contact with people or other animals until authorities can determine what needs to happen next. 

Owners should not attempt to pick up or handle the wild animal themselves, even if it appears injured or dead. Safely preserving an animal for potential rabies testing can sometimes be important, but that process should be coordinated with local animal control or public health authorities rather than attempted by an owner who could become exposed in the process.

The same caution applies when wildlife gets inside a home. A bat flying around a bedroom isn't something to casually catch with bare hands and release outside, particularly if there is a possibility that a sleeping person, child or pet had contact with it.

Determining whether an exposure occurred can be complicated. That's precisely why public health and animal control officials should be involved.

Rabies Is a Veterinary Issue and a Human Health Issue

The diagnosis also illustrates the One Health reality of rabies. When one dog becomes infected, the concern doesn't stop with that animal.

Investigators have to determine which animals and people may have been exposed. Anyone who was bitten, scratched or potentially exposed to saliva from a rabid animal may require medical evaluation and post-exposure prophylaxis.

San Antonio officials advise anyone who experiences a possible exposure to immediately wash the affected area thoroughly with soap and water and contact a healthcare provider as soon as possible. 

Veterinary professionals occupy an especially important position in that chain. They're often the first people an owner calls after a pet tangles with wildlife, and they may be among the first to recognize that an animal's unusual behavioral or neurologic signs could represent something far more serious than a routine medical problem.

Taking an exposure history matters. So does protecting veterinary personnel while the diagnosis is being investigated.

Twenty-Two Wildlife Cases Change the Conversation

One rabid dog would be noteworthy. A rabid dog appearing while wildlife rabies cases are simultaneously surging deserves considerably more attention.

With 22 wildlife cases reported in San Antonio and Bexar County during June and July, officials are asking residents to avoid touching or feeding wildlife, prevent pets from roaming, reduce opportunities for contact with unknown animals and report suspicious encounters immediately. 

For pet owners, the message isn't that every skunk, bat or raccoon they see is rabid. It's that there is no reliable way to determine whether a wild animal is infected simply by looking at it.

And for veterinarians, the current outbreak is a reason to make one question especially routine when examining an animal with unexplained neurologic or behavioral abnormalities:

Has this pet had any contact with wildlife?

The answer could completely change the case.

A Preventable Disease That Still Demands Respect

Rabies occupies a strange place in modern veterinary medicine. It's an ancient and almost invariably fatal disease, yet it's also one we have extraordinarily effective tools to prevent.

That's why cases like this one are so important.

A dog encountered a baby skunk. The incident wasn't reported. Weeks passed. Neurological signs developed. Eventually, testing confirmed a disease that Bexar County hadn't documented in a pet dog for more than a decade. 

Meanwhile, rabies was already circulating at unusually high levels in the wildlife surrounding the community.

The lesson isn't complicated: vaccinate pets before exposure happens, and don't dismiss wildlife encounters after they do.

Because the best time to deal with rabies is always before the symptoms begin.

Source: San Antonio Animal Care Services and the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, August 19, 2026.

Read the original City of San Antonio public health advisory