Animal 411
New Canaan Police Put Down Three Sick Raccoons; Daytime Sightings Do Not Automatically Mean Rabies
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Following a string of raccoon sightings in town, including three where sick animals had to be put down, New Canaan’s Animal Control officers are urging residents to keep their garbage bins secure and ensure that domestic pets are supervised when off-leash and outdoors. Just seeing a raccoon during the day doesn’t mean the animal is sick with rabies or distemper, as the species at this time of year has very young babies and often wanders out in daylight to forage for food so that the young aren’t left alone at night when other predators are about, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. “We’re not concerned as long as they’re moving with a sense of direction,” Halm said of the numerous calls the department gets when residents spot raccoons during the day. “It’s when they are obviously stumbling, staggering or circling that we known the animal is clearly sick.”
In three recent incidents—May 8 on Kimberly Place, May 7 on Bickford Lane and May 4 on Rippowam Road—police shot dead the sick raccoons then found following residents’ calls, Halm said. A fourth incident, called in at 3:26 p.m. on May 6, involved a raccoon fighting with a dog under a resident’s deck on Old Stamford Road, she said.