Madison Police Kill Fox That Attacked 2 People
Animal being tested for rabies following Thursday morning incident on Longview Avenue.
Madison Police shot and killed a fox after it attacked two people Thursday morning on a Longview Avenue lawn, authorities said.
The victims were transported to Morristown Medical Center and the animal is being tested for rabies, police said.
According to a statement by the Madison Police Department, Caroline Malia, 23, was knocking on the front door of the residence where she babysits on Longview Avenue and was approached by what she thought was a large cat.
"Before she realized it, the fox began to attack her legs," police said.
Hearing the woman's screams, next-door neighbor John Hamilton was able to free the animal's hold on the woman, police said. In doing so, he was bitten on the hand as he threw the animal against a car, police said.
Read the Malia's and Hamilton's accounts of the incident here.
Madison Police Sgt. Dennis Lam and Officer Matthew Mirabella responded to the scene, discovered the animal and destroyed it, police said.
Malia and Hamilton were treated by the Madison Volunteer Ambulance Corps and the Madison Fire Department, and the agencies transported them to the hospital.
The Madison Health Department and Millburn Animal Control, which is contracted by Madison, also responded.
Police directed residents to www.cdc.gov/rabies/ for more information about the rabies virus.
Steve T.
3:55 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
We live on the adjacent block. My wife shoo'd away a small fox in our backyard last week - wonder if that was the same one? Good riddance. Glad the Madison Police took care of business.
Pat Fox
4:17 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
We saw a red fox in our backyard last Wednesday morning. He caught his breakfast (a mouse) right in front of us.
Sue
4:52 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Destroyed it *how*?
Alice Jameson
5:13 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
As stated in the first line of the article, the fox was shot and killed.
Mikey D
6:13 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
Lead poisoning.
Nancy O'Brien
5:21 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
This fox started his morning of terror in our backyard at about 6:00 a.m. It tried to attack our dog and us. Luckily, we were able to pull our dog back into the house. We alerted the police who responded immediately but unfortunately the fox had already left our yard. Too bad because it would have saved these two people from being bitten. We all need to be alert since fox are happening too frequently.
The O'Brien's
Madison Cyclist
7:53 pm on Thursday, May 3, 2012
I've noticed a definite uptick in squirrels and racoons in my yard since we went to once a week garbage pick up. I wonder if the foxes are becoming more prevalent because there's more food available. I'm glad we're back to 2x/week until the end of the summer.
Hugh Topian
6:05 am on Friday, May 4, 2012
Make sure your pets are up to date on their rabies shots!
Kirk Petersen
10:21 am on Friday, May 4, 2012
... and your humans!
John smith
2:02 pm on Friday, May 4, 2012
How about we have a little culling? .22lr would work fine on those varmints. Pop, right in the eye. Although if a fox or something came after one of me or mine, I'd use 12 gauge, just to watch that puppy splatter. But seriously, this shit scares me. Is this what new jersey has come to? We depend on the police to save us from a fox? Get a grip people, shoot it yourself, learn a little personal responsibility.