Rabid Cat Attack Shocks Lakeland: Residents Voice Fears After...

In a concerning incident in North Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, a cat infected with rabies attacked five individuals and a puppy during the first week of June. This alarming event led the Polk County Sheriff’s Office to issue a citation to a woman for feeding the stray animal without ensuring it was vaccinated.

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the cat was discovered deceased beneath a house. It was subsequently sent to a state laboratory in Tampa, where tests confirmed it was rabid. In response to this public health threat, animal control authorities and the Department of Health are collaborating to manage the situation and address the multiple rabies exposures. Local residents expressed significant concern over the incident.

Upon receiving warnings from the Department of Health, Thomas Parker, a local, noted the serious nature of rabies. “Deadly disease. It can be prevented, but not cured,” he remarked after reading distributed flyers. These warnings were given to residents in the Glen Road area of Lakeland, alerting them about the rabid cat.

Neighbor Ashley Clark shared her surprise, saying, “I know that there are cats around here, and usually they’re pretty docile. So this is unusual.” The community remains on edge as authorities continue their efforts to keep the area safe and rabies-free.

She called animal control after learning one of her neighbors was bit.

“There were three, at least three people that were attacked just a couple of days before that. So I called,” Clark said.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office oversees animal control. Sheriff Grady Judd said the stray cat was one of many cats the woman fed.

“People who feed stray cats mean well, but you’re adding to the problem,” Judd said. “Cats roam free. And as a result, this one cat attacked five different people, three of them children, and attacked a puppy.”

Clark said she wants to see the county get involved in preventing this from happening again.

“A lot of people moved into this neighborhood and cats were already here. So I think that this definitely could have been mitigated if people were incentivized to trap, neuter, vaccinate, release,” Clark said.

The Street Cat Project of Polk County advocates for programs like TNVR, and said they’ve been bringing this matter to the county’s attention for a year now.

“We believe that countywide TNVR is the only humane way to combat the overpopulation of community/street cats in Polk County. The old method of trap and kill has not worked for over 20 years. We are still overrun with free roaming cats. Mass low-cost sterilization is the only proven strategy. Those cats are then also vaccinated with a three-year rabies vaccine to put a barrier of protection between humans and rabid wildlife. So TNVR would curb the breeding population and add a level of rabies protection for humans,” said Eve Salimbene, the president of the Street Cat Project of Polk County.

“The county also needs to implement low-cost surgery vouchers for owned animals which would vaccinate those owned animals for added protection. We know that today’s inside house cat is tomorrow’s outside free roaming cat when financial, familial or housing changes happen. Offering low-cost options to the public is imperative to herd health and human health,” Salimbene added.

8 On Your Side tried speaking with one of the neighbors attacked, but they didn’t want to talk. The sheriff’s office sent photos of the victim’s bites.

“They’ve got to go through some horrible shots, rabies shots for the next period of time in order to make sure that they don’t get that deadly disease,” Judd said.

Judd said this is the fourth or fifth rabies case so far this summer. Residents want it to get under control.

“It’s really concerning. I know that we get stuff out here sometimes, but for it to be so close is really scary,” Clark said.

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Rabid Cat Attack Shocks Lakeland: Residents Voice Fears After Multiple Victims, Including Puppy, Targeted

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