A ruthless bobcat attacked an 80-year-old woman, leaving her in an awful condition that required stitches to contain the injuries. The woman is recovering at home after being jumped by a bobcat in an attack that required 50 to 60 stitches to her face, back, and arm at New London Hospital.
Elsie Dabrowski from Georges Mills went out to her chicken coop Sunday night as she does every night around dusk, she closed up the coop and bent down to cut weeds with a sickle. Gene Dabrowski, who is Elsie’s son revealed that the bobcat lunged at Elsie, bit her left cheek, scratched her throat and bit her back.
The former Marine made a statement on Monday evening in which he revealed that the attack had her wandering as to why the bobcat was attacking her. However, she attacked the cat off with her sickle while Gene’s five dogs chased it under a nearby porch.
Gene Dabrowski lives only 300 feet away in a separate house, he heard the commotion, rushed to the scene and killed the animal with two blasts of a shotgun. On Monday afternoon, state health officials informed the Dabrowski's that the bobcat was rabid, Gene said.
Elsie, her son, his wife and their three children must undergo a series of rabies shots. Their five dogs, which were already vaccinated, will receive booster shots and be quarantined for six months in a house and fenced-in yard, Gene said.
An experienced trapper and outdoorsman, Dabrowski called a Fish and Game conservation officer to retrieve the dead animal. The bobcat population has been steadily increasing in New Hampshire since 1989 when the state put an end to bobcat hunting.
Fish and Game last year tried to introduce a limited hunting and trapping season with 50 permits to be issued via a lottery, but the proposal was withdrawn amid public outcry. Paul Debow, president of the New Hampshire Trappers Association, said the incident will trigger renewed calls by his organization for a limited bobcat hunt.
