A fox is dead after biting two people in Worcester last week. The first attack was on Jones St. on Wednesday night. Six-year-old Janessa says she was playing with her friends in the backyard before 9pm when the rabies-infected fox charged her.
“It ran at my leg. After a couple of seconds of my leg, it went to my arm and deep in there in my tissue,” Janessa said.
Her brother ran over and kicked the animal until it let go. Janessa needed stitches to stop the bleeding on her arm and leg.
The next morning, that same fox attacked Janessa’s relative around the corner on Granite St.
“I heard my nephew screaming thought he got hurt, so I ran to see what’s going on,” Zena Bottom said. I’ve seen from the corner of my eye something running up all I could do was put it up and it grabbed me.
Bottom stuck her foot out to stop the animal from reaching her family, but the fox bit her foot.
“I tried to shake it off it wouldn’t so I grabbed it by the neck and threw it.”
Bottom says animal control was called out. She says they shot and killed the fox. Tests for rabies came back positive, so Janessa and Bottom have multiple rounds of shots to go through.
On Sunday, a different fox about two miles away on Harrington Way attacked a dog. The owner says the animal ran up to their smallest dog, Pepe Le Pew. Thankfully, the two bigger dogs chased the fox away. No person or dog was hurt in that attack.
People living there say that fox was also shot and killed by animal control. We’re working to find out if that animal was also infected with rabies.
Click here for the latest info from the state health department: https://www.mass.gov/lists/rabies-educational-materials-and-additional-resources
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