Three People Exposed to Rabies in West End

Black cat in the West End is determined to have had rabies. Three people were exposed.

Three people and a dog have had contact with a rabid cat in the Laurel Lakes area of western Henrico County, police are reporting.

At about 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, the county’s animal protection unit received a call for a cat scratch in the 4400 block of Laurel Village Drive. Officers found two people who had been scratched by a black cat as they tried to remove it from the mouth of their dog, which had caught it.

The cat escaped, said Lt. Doug Perry of the Henrico Division of Police.

Another call reporting a cat scratch came in at 11 a.m. the same day in the 8700 block of Hungary Spring Road.

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An animal control officer captured the cat, which was determined to be the same animal that scratched the two people in Laurel Lakes.