North Adams Police were forced to shoot a fox that had attacked a resident and a pet on Sunday. Both red (such as the one illustrated above) and gray foxes can be found in Massachusetts.

Update at 1:39 p.m., July 8: The State Lab in Jamaica Plains has confirmed that the fox killed on Sunday was positive for rabies.

Police are asking residents in the immediate areas around Chantilly and Versaille avenues to be on the lookout for any animals acting irregular. The signs can range from disoriented, to falling over, to coming too close to humans, etc. Pet owners should confirm their pets are up to date on their rabies vaccine because the disease can be easily spread through saliva contact. You may not realize your pet has come into contact with a rabid animal.

Anyone who had contact with this rabid fox should call 617-983-6800 for the rabies control program at the state Department of Agriculture.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Police were forced to put down a potentially rabid fox on Sunday that had attacked a woman and a cat.

The animal was noticed by numerous residents in the Versailles Avenue area, prompting calls to police and a search for the affected creature.

Sgt. James Burdick on Tuesday said police received the first call Sunday around 2:30 in the afternoon after a woman at her home on Versailles Avenue reported that a sick-looking fox attacked a book she was holding.

A commenter on iBerkshires, who said she was the one attacked, wrote that "it jumped at me to attach (sic) me ... I happened to be reading a book and instinctly held it out and it bit into the book. I can say without a doubt ... I was saved by that book .. ."

The woman also said she found blood on the book after the fox grabbed it.

Burdick said officers checked the surrounding area but were unable to locate the fox.

Another call came in around 6:30 from a Phelps Avenue resident who said there was a "sickly injured looking fox" in his back yard. Officers responded but could not find the fox.

Burdick said another call was received about an hour later from a Chantilly Avenue resident who said a fox had attacked her cat that had been sitting on her front porch. Witnesses said the fox had dragged the cat off the porch and into some bushes before being chased off.

An officer helped the owner get the cat, which was taken to a veterinary hospital in Pittsfield; Burdick did not have any information on its condition.

Police finally came across the fox near Versailles Avenue and Barbour Street.

"The fox was noted to have lost a lot of fur and was in very poor physical condition and posed a threat to the public so an officer dispatched the fox," Burdick said.

The fox's body was collected by the animal control officer and transported to the state lab for testing. 

According to the state Department of Public Health, more than 5,000 animals have tested positive for rabies in the past 23 years. The disease is caused by a virus and affects the brain, and can be spread to humans. Foxes can also suffer from distemper, also caused by a virus, and show signs of inflammation, emaciation, and disorientation. Humans cannot contract distemper.

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