Cruelty investigation launched over trapped raccoon left in water-filled garbage can

WARNING: Story contains a graphic photo

An employee with Critter Care Wildlife Society says a raccoon that was trapped alive and then partially submerged in a water-filled garbage can constitutes the worst case of animal cruelty he's ever seen.

"We always see awful stuff ... but I've never ever seen an animal that has been put in a cage outside where she couldn't get out of the water," said Stijn Verhouven, an assistant supervisor with Critter Care.

Verhouven says the juvenile female survived by clinging to the side of the wire trap but died not long after being discovered.

He believes the animal was in the water for over a week. However, the timeline has not been established, according to the B.C. SPCA, which has launched a cruelty investigation.

"We have to get all the facts," said senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever  "We will be making a thorough investigation and indeed making a recommendation to Crown Counsel, if an offence has taken place." 

On Nov. 23, Critter Care said it received a call from a panicked South Burnaby resident who reported his landlord had left the trapped animal in the garbage can. 

"He told us she had her paws over her head and her head in the water. And when he started speaking to her, she looked up. So he then immediately go her out [of the water]," said Verhouven.

"We told him to keep her as warm as possible until we got there. He thought she was breathing her last breath, that she was actually dying on the spot. It was very emotional."

The good Samaritan put the raccoon in a box with blankets and hot water bottles.

When Verhouven arrived he was surprised to see it had stood up despite being so weak and emaciated. The animal survived the trip to the Langley Critter Care facility, but died a short time later. 

"She was really trying to fight but she just couldn't anymore," he said.

The raccoon's body has been sent to a lab in Victoria for a necropsy.