Rabid otter in Florida euthanised after biting elderly man 41 times and attacking dog
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The otter latched on Mr Joseph Scaglione’s right hand for five minutes.
PHOTO: PALM BEACH COUNTY ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL
A 74-year-old man and a dog were bitten separately by an otter with rabies on the same day in the town of Jupiter in Palm Beach County, Florida, in September.
The animal has since been euthanised, according to local media.
Mr Joseph Scaglione was feeding some ducks near his home when the birds suddenly took off.
“Looked up, no hawk, look back down and there was a brown head sticking up over the bank of the pond. And at first, I didn’t know it was an otter, but then I realised that’s an otter,” he was quoted in a report by CBS Miami on Wednesday.
He started to back slowly towards his gate, Mr Scaglione said in the report.
However, the otter quickly pounced on him when Mr Scaglione lifted his hand to close the gate. This made him trip and fall over.
The incident on Sept 20 left him with 41 otter bites on his hands, arms and legs, reported CBS Miami.
“My pinky is the worst. I have two puncture wounds. I’m not sure if it goes right through or whatever. One is on the corner of where the cuticle was,” Mr Scaglione said.
He was taken to Jupiter Medical Centre emergency department and received more than 120 rabies vaccine shots, three or four around each puncture wound, said USA Today.
He is still receiving vaccine shots this week to prevent the fatal viral infection that attacks the nervous system, the report added.
The otter latched on Mr Scaglione’s right hand for five minutes, according to USA Today on Wednesday.
He grabbed the otter’s neck with his left hand and the animal relaxed its jaw, which was just enough for him to free his right hand, Mr Scaglione said.
He then grabbed the otter and flung the animal as far as he could, away from his yard.
Later that day, when the otter attacked the dog, some people captured the otter by covering it with a recycling bin, reported CBS Miami.
Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control picked up the otter and tested it for rabies, the Florida Department of Health Laboratory said on its website on Monday.
This is the first otter with rabies that the Palm Beach country authorities have seen since 2010, reported CBS Miami.
It is likely the otter contracted rabies from an infected raccoon, Mr David Walesky, assistant director of Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control, said in the CBS Miami report.
