PITTSBURGH (CNN) — A Pennsylvania woman is being praised for helping rescue an animal in need, but wildlife experts can't quite figure out what the critter actually is.
Is it a dog, a coyote or something completely different?
“I wasn't quite sure but its behavior, it was scared, and it was cold and all I could think about was this animal needed help,” says Christina Eyth.
She says she saw paw prints outside her door in Fairfield Township earlier this week, thinking it could be her neighbor’s loose dog.
"I peaked outside the door and that's whenever I noticed the animal on the left-hand side. And it was so scared and cold and shivering."
But what exactly it is remains a mystery.
"It's definitely a coyote, no it's a dog, so with there being so much question, that's whenever they got the wildlife officials involved."
Eyth says she coaxed it into her basement and called TJ’s Rescue Hideaway to help.
"They transported it here and I honestly can’t definitively say what it is, but to err on the side of caution, since they can carry rabies, and since it might be a coyote, we can keep it here, get genetic testing done and go from there,” says Morgan Barron, a wildlife rehabilitator for Wildlife Works.
Morgan says even with her training, she can't say for sure what the animal is.
“Behavior-wise, he's very timid, very scared and not aggressive at all which makes me lean toward dog."
Officials say the animal is being treated for mange and is being kept in isolation for now, but no matter the results, Christina said she would do the exact same thing over again.
"There was an animal in need, and I feel like I did the right thing either way."
Wildlife officials say the results from genetic testing take two to four weeks to come in.
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