Lawsuit filed over rabies incident at East Providence animal shelter
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. The city of East Providence is facing a lawsuit stemming from an incident at its animal shelter in which some 50 people were exposed to a rabid raccoon. A man whose daughter came in contact with one of the wild raccoons illegally housed at the city's animal shelter last summer filed the lawsuit.
Alan Brierly filed a claim on behalf of his daughter, Hannah Neel. He's seeking unspecified damages for what he says was the "egregious negligence" of animal shelter employees.
He says his daughter was exposed to rabies because employees allowed her to touch one of six baby raccoons.
One of the raccoons turned out to be rabid, resulting in the closure of the shelter.
As a precaution, rabies shots were administered to about 50 people who had come in contact with the raccoons. That included Hannah.
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