Careful with the animals from the forest!

At about 5:30 Saturday afternoon, a raccoon entered the yard of this reader’s house, making its way to the patio door. In the beginning, family members thought that the raccoon’s attitude was rather funny, but they suddenly became worried when they noticed the animal’s behaviour. The raccoon, looking a bit obese, started to reel and then fell down. It did not move for several minutes. He repeated this behaviour several times for a few hours. In the meantime, members of the family called the SPCA in Verdun Borough and the G.L. Canine Patrol.

The first two workers who were called said that the problem must be handled by the canine patrol but it was only the next day that a representative of this company returned the family’s call. At about 2:50 pm on Sunday, the canine patrol called the resident back but the animal had left the premises as they thought.

It was impossible to determine the exact nature of this animal’s illness but the symptoms seemed to indicate that he had contracted rabies. The resident who spotted the raccoon is therefore advising island residents not to approach any of the animals from the forest, especially if these animals look frightened of humans. They could be carriers of a dangerous disease that can affect domestic animals, children, and even adults. In this particular case, the symptoms resemble those of the symptoms of raccoon rabies.

It must be noted that G.L. Canine Patrol is not authorised to install traps for wild animals even if they could be sick. The Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife and Fauna, however, carry out control operations for raccoon rabies in order to avoid spreading this disease.

L'Île-des-Sœurs is an area that is considered vulnerable to this kind of disease because of the great number of domestic animals that are not always on a leash. They can approach wild animals that are carriers of various diseases and be contaminated on contact. They can also spread the disease to their owners or to members of the family.

It is therefore strongly recommended that residents avoid approaching or getting close to wild animals especially if their behaviour looks abnormal. And, even if this reminder is often useless or ignored, it is essential that your domestic animals are on a leash!