A 4-year-old girl who was playing in her backyard was nearly bitten by a rabid fox before the familys 5-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, Cinnamon, came to her rescue.
Addilyn Carter and Joshua Basti, both 4, were playing in the Carter familys backyard in Seabrook, N.H., early on the afternoon of March 18 when a fox ran into the yard. The fox scratched Joshua, and then went after Addilyn, who was running toward the house, according to Addilyns father, Oliver Carter Jr.
Before the fox could bite her, the Carters 5-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, Cinnamon, chased it away. Cinnamon, who received no bites or scratches, probably saved Addilyn from being bitten, the dogs owners say.
If Cinnamon had not been there to distract the fox, it could have been a lot worse, Joshuas mother, Karen Basti told the Portsmouth Herald newspaper.
The fox ran amok for five hours in the south end of town, also bit a 12-year-old girl and a black Labrador Retriever. Police eventually cornered the animal under a house and shot it around 6 p.m. Tests on the foxs carcass last week confirmed it was rabid.
Young Joshua Basti, who received four scratches from the fox, began receiving rabies shot treatments shortly after the incident, his mother told the newspaper.
Posted: March 27, 2006, 5 a.m. EST