Bobcat attacks 3 women at group home greenhouse

COLCHESTER >> Three women are being treated Tuesday after a bobcat jumped on one woman and scratched two others trying to stop the animal’s attack, officials said.

State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection staff, which located the bobcat, shot and killed the animal following the incident, officials said.

Authorities were alerted about the attack, which took place at about 11:44 a.m. in a greenhouse at Caring Community on Waterhole Road, state police spokeswoman Trooper First Class Kelly Grant said in an email.

Connecticut State Police Troop K officers and DEEP personnel helped at the scene, according to Grant.

Caring Community is a day and residential center for people with developmental disabilities located about 2 miles from the East Hampton line. The victims were injured during a greenhouse program that takes place at the group home, according to Dennis Schain, DEEP communications director.

The three women were taken to the Marlborough Medical Center for evaluation and treatment, said Schain, while the bobcat’s body was taken to the state Department of Health lab for a rabies test.

DEEP wildlife authorities say it is rare for bobcats to attack humans — and most often rabies is the cause. However, the DEEP also said it is rare for bobcats to get the mid-Atlantic version of rabies.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO A Connecticut bobcat