Toronto animal services to review policies after rabid raccoon found in Hamilton

A veterinarian for the city of Toronto says the discovery of a raccoon with rabies in Hamilton is prompting both municipalities to review their policies when it comes to dealing with sick wildlife.

The raccoon was discovered to have rabies after it got into a fight with two dogs in an animal control van.

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Toronto hasn't seen a case of a raccoon with rabies since 2006, and Esther Attard, a veterinarian with Toronto Animal Services, said the condition is very rare.

"These things are wake-up calls certainly for us, so we certainly would review again what we are doing to keep our staff and the public, and domestic animals and the wildlife that we handle, as safe as possible," she said.

'Vicious' raccoon

On Wednesday, Hamilton resident Paula Fancey's two bull mastiffs broke free from her property. Animal services picked them up.

Hamilton city spokeswoman Ann Lamanes said one of the dogs got out of its cage in the van and attacked the raccoon, which fought back.

But Fancey said the raccoon got loose first, prompting one of her dogs, Mr. Satan, to break out of his cage and fight the raccoon.

The dog's mouth and tongue were cut in the fight.

Fancey said the animal control officer recaptured the raccoon and put it in a cage next to their other dog, Lexus.

"Then the raccoon reached through the cage and bit her," she said.

After speaking with her veterinarian, Fancey said she will likely have to euthanize both of her dogs because they are not up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations.

"It's not worth the risk," she said. "We have kids and we can't keep them quarantined for months, we just can't."

The raccoon was euthanized.

"It was very vicious and it was a public safety risk and we weren't going to let it back into the wild," Lamanes said.

She added the city is reviewing several issues that were highlighted by the incident, notably the strength and condition of the cages used in their vans and whether domestic animals should be transported at the same time as sick or injured wildlife.

Vaccines distributed

Ontario has been distributing bait containing a rabies vaccine for years. In 2015, it released 100,000 of the baits.

The vaccine is aimed at keeping raccoons in the province rabies-free by immunizing the animals in border areas due to the presence of raccoon rabies near the Ontario-New York State border. Provincial officials say the flavoured baits immunize most skunks, foxes and raccoons that eat them.

Attard said they do pick up raccoons with distemper, which can have symptoms which appear similar to rabies. She added that they find rabies in bats, which can be difficult to control.

"But we haven't had really any exposures like that for a very long time so it is rare in Toronto," she said. "But people still should be careful and should never handle wildlife or go near wildlife. They should always call if they see wildlife behaving abnormally."

Attard said they are investigating how the Hamilton raccoon got rabies.