A Siberian lynx attacked a person in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood Tuesday, WSB-TV reports.
Police say the cat's owner was out of town and asked a friend to feed it while he was gone. When the friend went to feed the cat, the person was bitten on the head. Police said the victim was bleeding heavily.
According to an official with the Department of Natural Resources, the owner has nine cats, including four Syberian lynxes, one other lynx, and three other cats of comparable size.
The DNR says the owner is permitted to breed the animals on the property.
WSB-TV's Carl Willis went to the neighborhood, where neighbors said this wasn't the first incident involving the large cats.
Neighbors are nervous as it's still not clear how the animal was able to attack a person hired to feed it.
They say it doesn't help matters that one of the large cats has gotten loose in the neighborhood before.
“I’m pretty sure they're in tight cages and pretty aggressive,” neighbor Cassandra Whipple said. “My main concern now is what they're going to do with the animals.”
Whipple says her concern is also for the children and pets in the neighborhood.
A search of WSB-TV's archives shows the animals have broken free before.
In 2004, another lynx, belonging to the same owner, got loose. The 50-pound lynx was spotted near a home. No one was hurt in that incident.
Still, neighbors say they have questions that need answers.
“Because I don't think any of us really know how they're being contained, and if one of them was to get out and bite someone in my family or anyone else, it'd be pretty terrifying," Whipple said.
