A fox later determined to have rabies attacked a domestic cat Sunday in Boothbay Harbor.

Lincoln County Animal Control Officer Will Snowman responded to the home on Simmons Drive after receiving a report that a possibly rabid fox had been shot and killed, according to Lt. Michael Murphy of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.





The cat’s owner said he had shot and killed the fox after it attacked his cat on his property, Murphy said. Snowman bagged the fox and contacted the Maine Warden Service.

The deceased fox was retrieved by the warden service and taken to the Maine Center for Disease Control in Augusta. The cat was quarantined at the family’s home.

On Wednesday, the Maine CDC said the fox had tested positive for rabies.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and Boothbay Harbor Police urged anyone who suspects an animal of being rabid to avoid contact with it and immediately call 911.

As of May 8 — the most recent information available on the Maine CDC website — the state has had 26 confirmed cases of rabies in wild animals, 17 of which were raccoons.