Toronto man charged after attempted drowning of trapped baby raccoon: police

A Toronto man is facing animal cruelty-related charges after a raccoon was caught in a trap was submerged in water and had to be saved by officers, police say.

Police were called to a property in the area of Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue West after someone heard “crying noises” at around 1 a.m. on Thursday, a post on the Toronto Wildlife Centre website said.

Toronto Police Service Const. David Hopkinson told Global News that officers found a young raccoon trapped in a cage. He said the cage was inside a garbage bag, weighed down by rocks, and that the bag was filled with water, almost to the top.

“The raccoon was just barely able to keep its nose outside of the cage to keep alive,” Hopkinson said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The raccoon was just barely able to keep its nose outside of the cage to keep alive," Hopkinson said.

Officers took the young raccoon to the Toronto Wildlife Centre for treatment.

“Medical staff are working to save his/her life. The baby is too weak to do a full exam, so the gender is not yet known,” the centre said in the post.

“The baby is warming up and receiving oxygen in an incubator and we are working on stabilizing the baby’s blood sugar.”

The centre called this type of incident “unacceptable.”

“Raccoons suffer and feel pain just like any other animal and this baby didn’t deserve this awful attack.”

Luigi Derose, 67, has been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. He is scheduled to appear in court at a future date.