Middleborough Police and Animal Control reported that a fox, believed to have attacked two people on Sunday and Monday, was located and killed early Tuesday morning.
A citizen found the fox shortly after midnight Tuesday on Plymouth Street, just north of the entrance to a Kampground of America campground, police said.
Police said the animal was in a ditch on the side of the road and appeared “sickly and ornery.” After making a determination that the fox represented an immediate threat to public safety, an officer discharged his service weapon, striking and killing the animal. According to police, this is standard procedure when there is an animal that is deemed dangerous or threatening toward the public.
The fox was then taken into the custody of a Middleborough animal control officer. The animal will be transported to a state lab, where it will be tested for rabies.
Late Sunday night, Middleborough police received a report from residents on Muttock Lane, where a woman described being attacked by a fox. The woman’s daughter had to beat the fox with a shovel to make it flee.
A short time after 7 a.m. Monday, Middleborough Police received a 911 call reporting that a woman was bitten by a fox at the KOA campground, less than half a mile away from the first attack.
Both victims were taken to local hospitals.
Middleborough Animal Control, Massachusetts Environmental Police and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife searched throughout the day Monday in the area of Route 44 near Plymouth Street.
“Given that the animal had attacked two people, it was considered to be threat to the public and had to be killed in order for it to be tested for rabies and other diseases,” Middleborough Police Chief Joseph Perkins said in a statement. “I want to thank the many residents who reached out yesterday in helping us locate the fox.”
Police said anyone who may have come into contact with a fox recently or anyone who was attacked or bitten by a fox is urged to seek medical attention.
Stephanie Ellis, executive director of Wild Care Inc., a wildlife rehabilitation center in Eastham, said foxes in this area rarely attack people.
“I mean, they live around us but they keep a healthy distance,” Ellis said. “I would say that this is either an animal that is diseased or perhaps it is habituated to humans and is exhibiting inappropriate behaviors.”
Ellis noted that the animal was most likely a red fox, which are more common in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.