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A woman from Bowdoinham was bitten by a fox on Tuesday night shortly before the fox was found in a nearby house and killed by a resident.
MP Matt Sharpe of the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office went to a Pond Road house just after 9 pm Tuesday, in response to a report that a fox had chased a resident's dog, and then bitten him while she was trying to get her dogs into the house, said the deputy chief Brett Strout Wednesday afternoon.
The 39-year-old woman would have called a dog at her home and, when she went to pick up her other dog outside, the fox came into the house and bit her, Strout said. .
She was treated at home by the emergency medical service and then went to the Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick for follow up. His dogs were taken to their veterinarian for care, although Strout said it was not clear that they were bitten by the fox.
While still at Pond Road House, Sharpe and Animal Control Officer Cliff Daigle were called at 9:37 pm in a Post Road house in Bowdoin, where MPs think the same fox chased dogs into the yard and then followed them into this house.
The resident reported that after hearing his dog barking, he saw a fox chasing him in the yard, Strout said. When he called his dog into the house, the fox followed and the man was able to wedge the fox between the door and the wall before his son killed him with a shovel, Strout said.
Nobody was bitten, but the dog was and was then taken to a veterinarian.
Daigle seeded the dead fox, containing porcupine feathers, and brought it to the laboratory for health and environmental protection tests at Augusta for testing.
The dogs will be quarantined if necessary, said Strout, and lab tests will be made public after completion.
These attacks are the latest in the past year for animal control officers in Sagadahoc County. According to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, seven animals have tested positive for rabies since February, including four in the city of Bath and one in Bowdoin and Bowdoinham.
Four animals were tested positive for rabies in Penobscot and Cumberland counties, while the other counties saw three or fewer.
In March, public health authorities in Bangor searched for 10 to 12 people suspected of having manipulated a rabid bat with bare hands after finding it in the Shaw House neighborhood.
Rabies is deadly but preventable if treated promptly after exposure. People who have had direct skin contact with a rabid animal should start antirabies prophylaxis as soon as possible, said the Maine CDC. Treatment includes two injections: one with human anti-rabies immunoglobulin and rabies vaccine.
The police are urging residents to be aware of incidents, to keep control of their animals, to keep their vaccinations up to date and to call an animal control officer or veterinarian if they see something wrong. unusual or if their animals are exposed to wildlife.
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