At approximately 1am this morning, a resident heard crying noises coming from inside a back yard in the Dufferin & Eglinton area. Concerned, she called the police who responded.
In the yard, they discovered a small baby raccoon in a trap, and the trap was submerged in a can of water and weighted down with rocks. Luckily, there was a bit of air at the top of the can and the baby was light enough that the trap had floated up to the top. The baby had been struggling to breathe in the tiny air space for hours, his/her nose poking up out of the water just far enough to get the air the baby needed to stay alive.
Police rescued the baby raccoon and arrested the man at the home, who was later charged with causing unnecessary suffering to animals, an offense under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Police from 13 Division brought the weak baby to Toronto Wildlife Centre, where 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 baby is warming up and receiving oxygen in an incubator, and we are working on stabilizing the baby’s blood sugar.
Some people love raccoons and some people don’t, but this kind of action is always unacceptable. Raccoons suffer and feel pain just like any other animal, and this baby didn’t deserve this awful attack.
Thanks to the Toronto police for helping this baby raccoon.
If you’d like to help baby wild animals like this raccoon, click here for information about our Sponsor a Wild Baby campaign.
