At one point, Dave Alexander got a call during dinner to bring his three children inside because a stray cat was attacking people, he said.
"I come outside and there he was fighting with my cat," said Alexander. "They were rolling around in the bushes."
When animal control and the police showed up, the stray had moved to the backyard.
"They had a crate and the cat just wouldn't go in the box. The officer had to shoot it like five times before it stopped struggling," said Alexander.
"It's certainly something you don't expect to happen in your own backyard," said Winona Chamberlin, the neighbor of the man attacked on Rose Avenue Extension.
The large orange short-haired domestic stray cat with yellow eyes was wreaking havoc earlier this week in Bellingham.
The first attack happened Monday at 6 Northeast Drive where a woman was bit on her ankles before the cat scurried away, said Cindy Souza, the animal control department head.
A woman at 6 Northeast Drive, who did not want to be identified, reported the incident Monday evening and animal control put a trap in her backyard to catch the cat, Souza said.
While Souza said the woman had been feeding the cat, the woman said she hadn't and that she had never seen the cat before.
"It came over the stone wall and I didn't know where it was coming from," said the woman.
The next day (Tuesday) the stray cat showed up in the Rose Avenue Extension neighborhood where it grabbed onto Colin Osborne's leg and wrestled with the Alexander family's cat.
Neighbor Gail Wiebers had called the police after seeing a strange cat in the community, she said.
"It was running between the houses and even chased a little girl into her house before going under the (Osbornes') porch," said Wiebers.
"We just came back from vacation in Ireland and my son lost his shoe, so he and my husband went out in the backyard to look for it," said Siobhan Osborne, who's husband, Colin, was attacked.
"The next thing I know I hear my husband shouting, 'Get the kids,' " said Osborne.
The cat locked onto Colin Osborne's lower left leg and he had to strike it several times before it ran away, said Osborne.
Four-year-old Caragh was outside with her father and her brother Aodhgan, 3, when he was attacked. She is still terrified from the incident, said Osborne.
"She thinks all cats are out to kill her daddy," said Osborne.
The cat tested positive for rabies at the Department of Public Health lab, said Souza.
The two residents have already started a series of post-rabies shots.
The Alexander family cat, Ellwod, was up to date on his shots, but is on antibiotics and being quarantined inside for 45 days, said Alexander.
Animal control officers and the Board of Health want to get the word out in case any other animals or people were scratched or bitten by the stray.
Step one was putting a notice in everyone's mailbox on North East Drive and Rose Avenue Extension, said Chamberlin.
"The rabid animal that infected the cat could still be out there, so everybody should be aware that pets, a child or anyone outside can be bitten," said Chamberlin.
If any pets could have come in contact with a this or any rabid animal they should be taken to a veterinarian. Residents concerned about contact should visit their physician, said Souza.
"They had a sighting of the cat half-a-mile away toward the Mendon line," said Health Agent Michael Graft. "It could have happened anywhere."
Rabies is transmitted through saliva from a scratch or bite and is 100 percent treatable, said Souza.
"If untreated it's always fatal, so it's important to treat it as promptly as possible," said Graf.
In the end, health agents and officials hope this serves as a reminder to not play with or feed strays.
"We want to advise people not to approach strays. Even though it may resemble the neighbor's cat, don't approach any animal you're not familiar with," said Graf.
Reference:milforddailynews
No comments:
Post a Comment