A New York man and woman face fines of $500 each after they brought a raccoon to a pet store to buy food and a store worker ratted them out, authorities said.
A police officer with the state Department of Environmental Conservation received an urgent call from the Erie County Health Department about a potentially rabid raccoon on June 2, the department said in a news release.
The agency said a couple had brought a raccoon to a pet store looking for food and supplies and an employee at the store contacted authorities. Raccoons are considered dangerous wild animals because they carry and transmit the rabies virus.
The officer used store surveillance video, a store-issued rewards card and license plate information to locate the couple in the western New York city of Attica, the department said. The owners turned in the raccoon and were charged with unlawful possession of a wild animal, which is subject to a $500 fine, authorities said.
The raccoon that was confiscated from the couple was euthanized and tested for rabies, a test that can only be performed on an animal after it has died. The test was negative, the DEC said.
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