Keith Lusher 12.05.25
A Cherokee County, Georgia man is present process rabies therapy after making an attempt to rescue an injured raccoon by driving it to a nature middle inside his coat. The animal later examined optimistic for rabies.
In response to workers on the Chattahoochee Nature Heart, the person discovered the raccoon vocalizing within the highway and determined to get it assist. With nothing else out there, he wrapped the wild animal in his coat and held it in opposition to his chest whereas driving greater than an hour to the middle.
In the course of the journey, the raccoon managed to work its head free and bit the person on his face and palms. As a substitute of calling for assist, officers say he drove house, wrapped the raccoon in a blanket secured with duct tape, after which continued on to the character middle.
He arrived within the car parking zone about an hour earlier than the Wildlife Clinic was set to open, simply as youngsters have been exhibiting up for a Thanksgiving break camp. The camp director alerted wildlife workers, who met the person exterior with a kennel and safely contained the raccoon.
After repeated urging from workers, the person lastly agreed to go to the hospital for therapy of his accidents. The middle, which isn’t licensed to rehabilitate raccoons, contacted colleagues at Bells Ferry Veterinary Hospital, the place the animal was euthanized and examined. The Cherokee County Well being Division later confirmed the raccoon was optimistic for rabies.
Nature middle workers mentioned the person initially gave a false identify and cellphone quantity to each the wildlife staff and the hospital, complicating efforts to comply with up about his potential publicity. They ultimately realized his actual identification when a member of the family known as the middle the following day.
In a public assertion, the character middle confused that whereas the person clearly wished to assist, his decisions put himself, his household, workers, volunteers, guests, transporters, and veterinary personnel in danger. They urged the general public to contact licensed wildlife rehabilitators or state wildlife businesses as a substitute of making an attempt to seize or transport wild animals on their very own. Rabies in people is sort of all the time deadly with out immediate publish publicity vaccination.
Wildlife specialists say conditions like this have gotten extra frequent as individuals more and more “humanize” wild animals. The behavior even has a reputation: anthropomorphism. It describes when people assume animals suppose and really feel the way in which we do, or that an animal that appears scared, cute, or grateful will behave gently.
In actuality, an injured raccoon is probably going terrified, in ache, and primed to chunk. Treating it like a pet or a affected person can result in precisely the type of final result seen in Cherokee County.
Officers urge anybody who finds a sick or harm wild animal to maintain their distance, keep away from direct contact, and name for steerage from licensed wildlife rehabilitators, Animal Assist Now, or their state wildlife company. Good intentions don’t shield you from rabies, claws, or enamel. Let educated professionals deal with the rescue.
