‘He was coming straight for me:’ Video captures woman fighting off rabid fox attacking her dogs

SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — There is a warning about rabid foxes in Griffin. One dog owner is sharing a video of her fighting a rabid fox off her dogs.

“When she tossed it, that’s when I realized that’s not a fawn, and it was a rabid fox coming at me,” Gina White said.

“He was being aggressive. He was coming straight for me,” said White.

White threw her phone at the fox and fell backward on the ground and the two family dogs stepped in.

“I like animals better than I do people, so of course I was ready to protect the dogs. They obviously stepped in and were protecting me,” said White.

The interaction was captured on Ring cameras last week. The fox was later killed and its body was collected.

“We had a fox that we tested last week that came back positive, and then we had another biting incident that happened today,” said Melinda Knight an Environmental Health Director with the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Knight said that clusters like this happened two to three times a year in the 12 counties she manages. She is echoing a warning that Spalding County posted for citizens.

“If you see a fox or a wild animal, more than likely a nocturnal animal during the daytime, it’s best just to keep your distance,” said Knight.

For now, she says animal control is responding to calls, and there is a push for everyone to protect their animals with vaccines.

White said the rabid fox showed up in the same place where her four grandkids play every day, and she’s on edge until they know this won’t happen again.

“I wouldn’t rule it out, but we are just going to hope we are on the front end of this,” said Knight.