One Montreal-area woman is going above and beyond to save some orphaned raccoons.
She has them living in her house while she searches for a shelter that will take them in, and is hoping you can help.
“A friend found them on the road with the mother. The mother was hit,” said the woman, who does not want to be named for fear that she may be charged with keeping wildlife as pets. “They would not have survived on their own. They were too small to even know the mother had died. My friend asked me if I could do it, so I said, ‘Sure, no problem.'”
The woman has been housing the creatures for two and a half months. She even bottle-fed them at the start. Now, all four have names: Scooter, Roxy, Smoky and Bandit.
The rescuer says she is familiar with rescuing animals and there are no signs of them having any diseases.
Still, the raccoons are a handful.
“I love them and I can cuddle them and everything, but they’re wild animals and they should go free,” she told Global News.
READ MORE: Someone handed out baby raccoons outside a 7-Eleven in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Her goal is to find some sort of animal rehabilitation refuge that will take them on as soon as possible. Susan Mackasey, a friend of the rescuer who runs an animal rescue service herself, is helping with the search. They’ve had no luck so far.
“I want to see a sanctuary or someone who’s used to rehabilitating and releasing them out to the wild, helping us out,” she said. “There are some good sanctuaries, but they’re full.”
The rescuer said she called the SPCA, but they told her to either release them into the wild and “let nature take its course,” or bring them to the agency to be euthanized.
The benevolent rescuer says they wouldn’t be able to fend for themselves in the wild now, and she would rather welcome them into her home, than see them killed.
She’s spending hundreds of dollars on supplies and constantly cleaning up after the messy and energetic creatures.
“It’s a full-time job right now to take care of them,” said Mackasey. “They’re getting bigger.”
READ MORE: Vancouver woman mauled by raccoons says officials won’t do anything about it
The two women believe the critters deserve a fair shot at growing up.
“We have taken away all their homes everywhere. We build, build, build. It’s more theirs than it is ours,” said the rescuer.
Bill Dowd of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control says he’s seen many people try to keep raccoons as pets.
“Homeowners will tell us that they go out and every single faucet in their entire home will be turned on and water is everywhere. The raccoons will get into the bathroom and start opening up all the pill jars,” he told Global News.
He agrees that finding the right sanctuary could be a solution, with someone experienced in weaning wild animals off of human assistance.
“It’s going to be a challenge finding a rehab facility that can do that, especially this late in the in the mating or birthing season,” he said, explaining that in the spring and summer, facilities are packed with baby raccoons.
The raccoon foster parents are convinced they will soon be able to find them a perfect home, and hope by publicizing the story, someone will reach out and help them.
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