Dear Editor,
On Nov. 23, Critter Care received a call from a very concerned tenant in a Burnaby residence. The landlord had live trapped a raccoon and left it in the trap for over a week to suffer and die.
When the raccoon hadn’t died from hunger or the elements the landlord proceeded to try and kill the raccoon by placing the live trap face down in a garbage can full of water. The raccoon remained this way for multiple days but some how managed to stay alive.
When the tenant realized the raccoon was still in the trap they released it in the yard and called us right away however, the raccoon was so weak and sick that by the time a staff member arrived it was in the same spot as it was released.
As soon as the animal arrived back at the center is was wrapped in heat, given antibiotics for the fluid it had accumulated in its lungs, pain management as it had been suffering for over a week now, and a shot of vitamins to help bring everything back up to normal levels.
This young raccoon still had some fight in her, staff checked on her every 30 minutes for over two hours. Unfortunately, she passed away due to her injuries.
This was one of the most horrific cases of cruelty staff had seen.
Brooklynn Martin, Critter Care Wildlife Society
Editor’s note: The BC SPCA has begun an investigating the incident.