Victory! Raccoons 1, Animal Abusers 0
Late last week, our on-call caseworker was paged by a whistleblower who reported that a “coon-on-a-log” event was scheduled to take place at a campground in Louisiana, the next day. Believe it or not, “coon on a log” is an old Southern “sport”—you’ve read about others in history books, but we won’t discuss those here—during which participants chain a raccoon to a small (about 2-foot-long) log and toss the log and animal in the middle of a lake. The participants then sic dogs on the raccoon, and the dog who can knock the raccoon off the log first “wins.” Some sources say that the first dog to rip the raccoon apart wins. Obviously, both the raccoon and the dogs are put in great danger.
Our caseworker immediately reached a lieutenant in the law-enforcement division of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (DWF) and provided him with all the information that he needed, including the exact location where the raccoons were being caged prior to the event. The DWF sent officers to the site to investigate, and the officers found that the event coordinators didn’t have the permits required to keep raccoons in captivity. DWF officials immediately seized all the raccoons and issued citations, so the event—which we strongly believe would have violated state anti-cruelty statutes—never even got off the ground!
If an animal is in imminent danger, you should know that we are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Please, pick up the phone!
Written by Jennifer O’Connor
