The rabid bobcat apparently stalked the wrong woman. A 46-year-old Georgia woman is being treated for exposure to rabies after she was attacked by a bobcat. The woman choked the cat to death after it jumped on her.
Dede Mealor Phillips, of Hartwell, Ga, was putting a bumper sticker on her truck last Thursday evening when she heard a neighbor’s dog start barking. The bobcat appeared and jumped onto Phillips, according to a report in The Hartwell Sun.
Choked It Out
The woman grabbed the bobcat by the neck and “choked it out.”
“Thank God I am not a little woman,“ Phillips told The Sun. “Thank God it wasn’t my daughter-in-law or my granddaughter.”
Phillips was left with lacerations on her arms, hands and face. The bobcat tested positive for rabies, according to officials.
Social media hailed Phillips as a hero. Peggy Mercado wrote on Facebook: “I’m still in awe at how you fought off that attack. My god, you did it too. I won’t go outside without an open pocket knife. Scary as hell! Bless you! You truly are super woman. Feel better soon!”
Phillips responded, “I normally carry, but as fast as this cat moved, I would have never made it to the holster.
Normally Bobcats Run Like Hell
“Normally bobcats see a person a run like hell the other way. That’s really what I expected this one to do. Not take a leap and attack my face!”
Heather Mealor, the daughter of the woman posted on Facebook: “Dede is currently having issues with her hands and is in a lot of pain still. We’re all worried, and she’s afraid she may lose a few fingers due to the severe pressure and swelling in her hands. One of her fingers is broken and she can’t get on any steroids due to it counteracting with the rabies vaccine.”
The family has started a crowdfunding drive to try and alleviate the costs of the rabies treatment. Each set of shots costs several thousand dollars and Phillips needs four more series.
“She is a lady who would give you the shirt off her back and will drop whatever she is doing to come help. I know because she has for me,” her cousin posted. “She loves hard and is one heck of a woman. She is also having to go to an orthopedic doctor about her hands. She currently has very little use of them and is in a lot of pain. She doesn’t have insurance, so this is all going to cost a lot.”
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