POLK COUNTY, Fla — Editor's note: The photo used is a stock image, not the bat detailed in the story.
On Thursday, Aug. 5, Polk County Animal Control responded to a home in the Waverly area where two family dogs killed a bat in the yard, the sheriff's office says.
The dog owners of the two boxers called animal control and officers say they collected the bat carcass and sent it to the state laboratory in Tampa for testing. Tuesday, the sheriff's office reported the test confirmed the bat was infected with rabies.
The male boxers were vaccinated but, out of an abundance of caution, will remain quarantined inside their home for 45 days, authorities say.
This is Polk County's third case of rabies in 2021. The previous cases involved a raccoon and a fox.
