Glocester family saves dog from rabid bobcat

GLOCESTER, R.I. (WLNE) — A Glocester family rallied to save its dog from a bobcat attack Wednesday on Slavin Path.

“My daughter was screaming and the dogs were yelping,” Larry Desormier said. “Apparently a bobcat attacked one of my dogs.”

16-year-old Kyla Desormier threw a chair in the direction of the rabid bobcat in hopes of scaring it off.

“I wasn’t even scared in the moment because I didn’t even think too much of it,” she said. “So I just thought to throw the chair to scare it away.”

The quick thinking allowed Kyla to rescue Bailey, one of the family dogs, but the bobcat soon returned.

“We thought that was the end of it,” Larry, Kyla’s father, said. “Grabbed one of my guns and was ready to shoot it, and I couldn’t find it. I came back around here and my wife was on the wall, looked down, and it was looking up at her.”

The family called the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Glocester police, who came to euthanize the animal, which tested positive for rabies.

“To me, cause it stayed around, that got me thinking, something’s wrong with this thing,” Larry said. “It should’ve just ran off being spooked, but it didn’t.”

Bailey suffered some deep cuts and bite marks but is expected to be ok thanks to the courage of her family.

“If we weren’t home she wouldn’t have survived,” Monique Desormier said.

“I’m just glad she’s ok,” Kyla added.

The family thanked local law enforcement and made a point to encourage other families to vaccinate their pets against rabies, saying Bailey is expected to be alright because she got her shot.