North Dakota family is 'devastated' and fundraising for a lawyer after they say police killed their pet raccoon that was sought in a local rabies scare

Insider ^ | 18 Sept 2022 | Pocharapon Neammanee

[DUMBGRUNT]

Erin Christensen was arrested after she brought her pet Raccoon into a bar, according to The Bismark Tribune.

Authorities raided Christensen's home and killed the Raccoon on the spot, collecting his body to test for diseases, she said.

According to the fundraiser, Christensen found the animal on the side of the road in June.

On September 6, police said that Christensen brought Rocky into a local bar in Maddock during happy hour, according to the Tribune.

Cindy Smith, who was bartending at the time, said that there were about ten people in the bar, and Rocky never bit anyone in the five minutes he was inside the bar.

"Rocky never left my arms when I visited the Maddock Bar, so who was at risk of rabies or other diseases?" Christensen stated on GoFundMe.

According to the family's statement on GoFundMe, the authorities promised them that they would quarantine Rocky and let him go as long as he did not show any signs of rabies.

According to the Tribune, authorities raided Christensen's home in search of Rocky and killed the Raccoon on the spot, taking his carcass to test for diseases.

"The police brought a battering ram to break down the front door of the house where Rocky was being housed at the time of his death," Christensen said on the GoFundMe. "The amount of manpower used to find and kill Rocky, with simultaneous raids on three different residences, is impressive. A shock-and-awe campaign."

Rocky tested negative for rabies, according to the statement on GoFundMe.

[TigersEye]

The local PoPo there must have FBI Envy.

[Jamestown1630]

Raccoons are a rabies vector. Found on the side of the road, and they take it to a bar?

Jeez.

[Catholic and Conservative]

The CDC says "Rabies virus is transmitted through direct contact (such as through broken skin or mucous membranes in the eyes, nose, or mouth) with saliva or brain/nervous system tissue from an infected animal... Other types of contact, such as petting a rabid animal or contact with the blood, urine or feces of a rabid animal, are not associated with risk for infection and are not considered to be exposures of concern for rabies."

Before the police battered down the front door and killed the raccoon, the bartender had already said that the raccoon was never loose and did not bite anyone so the police should have known that there was no real threat of rabies transmission.

Obviously there are more important charities, but if anyone wants to donate a few dollars towards a legal fund for the kind-hearted person who nursed the raccoon back to health, you can do so here. The minimum amount that gofundme will handle is $5.

[Falconspeed]

Get over it. Raccoons are like rabbits and frogs and never fully domesticated.

[Dr. Franklin]

Christensen was arrested on charges of giving false information to law enforcement and tampering with evidence. She was also given a Game and Fish violation of unlawfully possessing a furbearer, according to the Tribune.

Dunno with what evidence this person might have tampered, and if I knew the police intended to kill my pet, I might very well not be truthful about where it was. It is unlawful in ND to possess or transport a "furbearer", although that term is not well defined, and appears not to have been intended to apply to pets, or rescues intended for rerelease into the wild. That said, the first thing anyone should do when keeping a pet is to get it vaccinated against rabies. It looks like the cops who killed the racoon were either sadists and wanted to teach this person a lesson, or scared they might get rabies if they collared the 'coon alive.

[Osage Orange]

Well......you might want to look at this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKbIbd6XA4A

[piasa]

Funny how they don’t specify what “authorities” ...was it the local police or the CDC or the Dept of Natural Resources or the county pound or what?

[piasa]

You are more likely to die from a pet dog attack that from a pet coon attack.

[piasa]

I had a pet groundhog, he never got mean and was a complete love bug to everyone, especially the pizza guy. Without question the funniest, sweetest, and easiest to care for pet I have ever had.

[cherry]

she ultimately is to blame for this racoons death....

leave the wild animals be.....they will manage as they always have....

[Jamestown1630]

I know several people who have had nice rabbit pets. They can even be trained to litter boxes, like cats.