Neighbourhood terrorised by aggressive cat

People in Pearl River, New York, got a strange reverse 911 call on Monday, telling them to be on the lookout for an aggressive animal that’s been attacking neighbors and pets. Chris McKiernan had an encounter with a ferocious feline near a neighbour’s back door. It was a feral, possibly rabid animal.



The run-in put a damper on outdoor activity in part of Pearl River, in southern Rockland County. “It’s been like lockdown. I feel bad for the kids, they’re afraid to go out,” McKiernan said. The aggressive black cat bites, scratches, and gets away. Several people and a dog have been injured over three days. Pets are confined or on a short leash. Those who have met the attack cat said they’ll never forget it.

“It was strange because it didn’t make a whole lot of noise like cats usually do. It was real quiet, and stared at me and had blood on its mouth. It was a little surreal,” McKiernan said. The Saldano family feels safe in their pool, but not beyond that. “He came out of nowhere. It was one o’clock in the morning, and all of a sudden he just leaped at me and I kicked him and he came again,” Joe Saldano said. Saldano kept kicking the cat away and it kept coming back.


YouTube link.

He finally retreated inside, and the cat sat on the welcome mat waiting for him. The next day they were so freaked out they went to a relative’s in Brooklyn, just to get away. The cat’s physical appearance has many convinced they’re dealing with a case of rabies. “It was wobbly and it was very thin,” Patricia McGowan said. Many residents are on edge. Local police confirmed they were looking for the cat to have it tested. At least one victim has already started rabies injections.