Animal Control Confiscates Pet Raccoon in Del Ray

While the folks at Alexandria Animal Control have received calls about raccoons holing up in SUVs or taking strolls through King Street Metro Station, the office heard a new one this week—a ring-tailed bandit was being kept as a pet in Del Ray.

On Aug. 3, an Animal Control officer responded to a complaint of a person hoarding raccoons in the unit block of E. Custis Avenue.

After a brief investigation, the officer discovered just a single raccoon being kept as a pet.

According to Alexandria Animal Control, the resident said they found the raccoon when it was a baby while on a trip. They did not want to leave it alone, so they picked it up and took it home.

The resident was informed it is illegal in the city of Alexandria to keep raccoons as pets. The officer confiscated the animal and turned it over to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

While the Animal Control office confirmed this to be the first case on record of a pet raccoon in Alexandria, it is not a wholly uncommon practice.

In Missouri, one family kept a 20-pound raccoon as a pet. Scooter slept at the foot of its owners’ bed, watched TV with the family and even learned to use a litter box by watching the family cat, according to The Kansas City Star.

Scooter, however, was removed from the family’s country home by the Missouri Department on Conservation, which said it is unsafe and illegal to keep a wild animal indoors as a pet.

Here’s wishing Del Ray’s black-masked mammal a safe stint in rehab. For its sake, raccoons are known for their intelligence and adaptability. 

For all we know, it might open a cub-free sushi joint in a tree in Simpson Park once it’s back on its feet.