The otter redirected its attention from Scaglione to a neighborhood dog. The Jupiter Police Department eventually trapped the otter under a recycling bin before Palm Beach Animal Care and Control arrived to capture it in a cage. Officials took it to the Florida Department of Health for rabies testing, which required the otter be euthanized. The otter tested positive. The dog was taken to a veterinarian for treatment.
Scaglione received the necessary vaccinations to ward off a rabies infection, which is almost always fatal for humans once signs of infection emerge, according to the World Health Organization. But due to the viral disease’s highly treatable and preventable nature, only two to three humans contract it nationwide each year, the Florida Department of Health reports. Scaglione’s next step is a visit with a hand surgeon to address his most severe wounds.
This attack happened seven weeks to the day after a river otter violently attacked three women floating down Montana’s Jefferson River outside of Bozeman. One victim’s injuries were so severe that she was life-flighted to a hospital in Bozeman for treatment. Photos of her injuries, which surfaced in the days that followed the attack, show just how much damage river otters can do.