City Raccoons Free to Run Amuck

There’s a new "Rocky" in town and, because of activists and a lack of fiscal monies, for some residents it is anything but a fair fight.

“I do not like raccoons,” Mayor Michael Nutter says.

With reports of the beasts chasing down little girls in North Philly and terrorizing local homeowners, not many people do.

But Nutter’s anti-raccoon statement during a City Council debate about the furry pests does not change the fact that Philadelphia has little resources to get rid of them all.

A shame since “we live in the filthiest city in America. There's everything raccoons need,” as Rick Schubert, director of the Schuylkill Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic, told the Daily News.

The topic of raccoons – to exterminate or not exterminate – came up for debate at a City Council meeting Tuesday after animal-rights activists protested a bill passed in June, which required the city’s animal control contractors to get rid of “nuisance” raccoons while trying not to kill them, according to the Daily News.

The activists were protesting the fact that capturing the critters inevitably would lead to “the killing of innocent raccoons,” reports the Daily News. Most likely true, as state law requires trapped raccoons to be destroyed. But the city’s economic state made the raccoon-murder complaint a moot point.

"The city does not have the resources to act as exterminators," said Brian Abernathy, chief of staff for the Managing Director's Office, according to the Daily News.

The conclusion? The city’s animal control contractor will only remove raccoons that are sick, injured, or in a resident’s living room, bedroom or kitchen.

We’re not sure about their stance on a raccoon in your bathroom or foyer. But we’re pretty sure you’re out of luck if it’s in your attic.
 

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