Rabid bobcat attacks Southbridge police officer
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BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Soutbridge officer is recovering after he was attacked by a rabid bobcat on Tuesday.
Bobcat on North Woodstock Road
A woman driving down North Woodstock Road saw a bobcat in the road Tuesday morning and stopped her car to avoid hitting it. When she stopped the car, the bobcat sat down in the road and then crawled under her car. The woman remained stopped on the road, so she wouldn’t hit the bobcat.
A man driving his pickup truck noticed the woman and stopped to offer her help, but the bobcat wouldn’t come out from under the vehicle, so he called 911.
Bobcat attacks police officer
When police officers arrived, they tried to get the bobcat to leave the road. Instead, the bobcat launched itself at an officer’s chest. The officer knocked the bobcat to the ground, and it attacked again, biting the officer in the arm and leg. The officer shot and killed the bobcat.
Investigation revealed the bobcat had been sprayed by a skunk and attacked by a porcupine before the attack. The town’s animal control officer took the bobcat from the scene so it could be tested. The bobcat came back positive for rabies.
The officer was taken to the hospital and treated for his injuries.
“After speaking with our ACO, this was an anomaly, and she (or I) have never heard of this type of behavior from a bobcat in our community,” Southbridge Police Chief Shane Woodson said in a statement. “We do not believe there is any threat to our community from the bobcat population.”
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