Local

Abington man taken to hospital after emu scratches him

Emus are the second-largest bird in the world, behind ostriches. Oscar Rivera / AFP / Getty Images, File

An Abington man was taken to the hospital Wednesday morning after a scratch from his family’s emu left him bleeding from the leg.

Emergency personnel in Abington responded to a call around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday after a 19-year-old man was scratched by an emu while moving the bird out of a truck, according to The Enterprise. The man’s mother, Diane Kenney, told WCVB the emu, named Kevin, escaped to the woods behind their property sometime overnight, and the scratch occurred when they were bringing him home.

The injured man was transported by ambulance to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth in order to receive stitches for his leg wound, The Enterprise reported.

Advertisement:

“Emu’s don’t attack; emu’s are big feather dusters,” Kenney told WCVB. “I would never have anything in my house that’s dangerous.”