Mystery Ailment Afflicting Animals In Ross

ROSS TOWNSHIP, PA - The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to contact township officials in an attempt to determine what’s causing what appears to be an illness in some wild animals.

For about the past week around Rodenbaugh Avenue, groundhogs and raccoons have emerged from the woods appearing listless and do not attempt to flee when humans approached, KDKA-TV reported.

Township police have shot a number of the afflicted creatures and returned them to the woods until the carcasses can be removed by a contractor. That’s compounding the problem by creating a foul odor in the area.

Neighborhood.Area resident Barbara Leininger said the mystery animal ailment has her worried.

“That there is a disease going around,” she told KDKA. “Could it be transmitted to people or our pets?”

Photo: James Gates via Creative Commons.