Girl, 2, attacked by rabid skunk before Weymouth firefighters beat animal to death – The Boston Globe

A 2-yr-used lady was attacked by a rabid skunk in her Weymouth backyard Monday sooner than firefighters beat the animal to death with a steel pole as her screaming family looked on, Weymouth firefighters said.

Fatima, 2, was playing alongside with her siblings all the device in which by a family barbecue when an adult skunk came into the yard on Neck Boulevard spherical 5: 30 p.m., per Weymouth fire officers and Betty Bennette, the woman’s grandmother. The skunk tried to assault Bennette and the woman’s mother, Mai, sooner than it ran “elephantine throttle” toward Fatima, Bennette said.

“Her mother swooped in and grabbed her. The skunk was dangling from the small one’s legs. She was screaming, they were both screaming, I was screaming. Mai saved kicking at it and hitting it till it at closing dropped,” Bennette said.

Family people ran motivate into their dwelling and called 911 because the skunk stalked them originate air, Bennette said. Four Weymouth firefighters arrived to fight the rabid animal.

“The skunk was going after every of them,” Bennette said. “They were spraying in his face. He would hesitate for a 2nd then reach genuine motivate at them. It wouldn’t deter the skunk’s aggression.”

In the rupture, the firefighters determined to abolish the skunk.

“They proceeded to bid a log to investigate cross-check to discontinuance it. In the rupture they bought it with a shovel and killed it,” Bennette said. “It was worrying.”

Firefighters wrote in a legend that they “frail [a] CO2 extinguisher and a pike pole to disable a rabid skunk.” Pike poles are long poles topped with a steel hook frequently frail by firefighters.

A Weymouth animal care for watch over officer confirmed the skunk had rabies, Bennette said.

No one else was injured, nonetheless Fatima had a bite on her leg and scratches on her legs and hand, Bennette said. She was taken to South Shore Sanatorium in Weymouth for the first of 4 treatments she could per chance bear for rabies prevention.

“She would report you the fable in her small small one language and what that it is advisable to well presumably also beget out is, ‘He bited me.’ She was pointing to her hand and she or he said, ‘He hurted me,’” Bennette said.

Alyssa Lukpat could per chance be reached at alyssa.lukpat@globe.com. Observe her on Twitter @AlyssaLukpat.