Warning: This story incorporates disturbing imagery which will upset and set off some readers. Discretion is suggested.
According to Vancouver resident Carol Alexander, it was her canine’s barking that triggered the attack.
She and her daughter had been walking her chihuahua Mo close to East forty seventh and Fraser streets on Saturday night, after they noticed a few raccoons walking alongside a fence in direction of them. Alexander’s pooch — on-leash — began barking, and one of many critters “just jumped down off the fence, tried to attack him.”
“I picked him up, held him up in the air and then it just started biting my legs, crawling up me,” Alexander informed Global News. “Then (Mo) wiggled away. He didn’t know to stay and he got down, and then it jumped on his back and was biting his back.”
Alexander mentioned she began “kicking it and screaming for help” as she struck the raccoon together with her canine’s leash. She was sure the critter would kill Mo, who weighs about 15 kilos.
“It just mauled my legs. The dog got away at that point, but it still kept attacking me,” she recalled. “I turn around and it was chasing me and like, biting the backs of my legs.”
Her daughter had run away, crying, she added. Soon, a neighbour got here out with a stick.
“I was bleeding quite a lot and ended up on somebody’s porch,” Alexander mentioned. “It’s one way to meet your neighbours, I guess. They were very kind.”
Her daughter drove her to Vancouver General Hospital, the place she spent 5 hours. She obtained antibiotics for her wounds, however was reportedly informed she wouldn’t want a rabies shot as a result of raccoons aren’t identified to transmit rabies in B.C.
Her canine, nonetheless, obtained a rabies booster from the veterinarian after the attack.
“We’re terrified to go for a walk now because it wasn’t even in my yard or in front of my house, it was like a block away,” Alexander mentioned. “It could be anywhere, right? It could jump out right now for all I know.”
Alexander mentioned she has referred to as the City of Vancouver over the weekend and was suggested to jot down to her metropolis council consultant or pay for an exterminator.
It’s not the primary violent raccoon attack recorded up to now few months — in August, three people and three dogs had been attacked by raccoons within the Kitsilano space, requiring a mixture of stitches, vaccinations and surgical procedure.
In an emailed assertion, the municipality mentioned raccoons fall outdoors of its laws as they’re protected beneath the Provincial Wildlife Act. The metropolis’s animal management officers, nonetheless, can implement the Wildlife Feeding Bylaw, which prohibits feeding wild animals anyplace in Vancouver.
The metropolis repeated the recommendation that involved residents ought to contact an accredited pest firm.
Elizabeth Grant, a wildlife rescuer with 25 years of expertise, mentioned if individuals encounter wildlife anyplace within the province, they need to hold their distance and guarantee they’re not making the animal really feel cornered.
“In particular, if it’s a mother with young or babies with her, then she needs to be given a wide berth so that she feels safe and does not feel that her babies are threatened,” Grant defined.
“For people in general, you need to always have your dog on a leash. It’s also helpful to supervise your cats or other pets if you’re letting them be outdoors.”
Grant repeated what Alexander was informed on the hospital — bats are the one identified supply of rabies in B.C.
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