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Mikey was raised by people illegally
in an apartment. Animal Control came in and confiscated him.
Rather than euthanizing Mikey, as customary, he was brought to
AFA. As an 18 month old "intact" male raccoon, Mikey was
unusually friendly. Despite that, we had him neutered for his
and our own good. He remains the facility clown and lives with
2 other raccoons (Tango, an owner give-up that was taken from
the wild and tamed, and Hershey, a "hit-by-car" whose
surgically repaired broken legs didn't heal well enough to
allow for release) and also an arctic fox (Dakota,
an owner give-up at 5 weeks of age). Can you believe 3 raccoons
and an arctic fox live in harmony? They even share a dog house!
AFA has many "unreleasable" raccoons
that come from various places. Some are wild "rehab" raccoons
that have injuries that don't successfully heal, and therefore
can't be released into the wild. Some are babies that well-
intentioned people meant to release in adulthood, but made too
tame for release. Some are legally confiscated from, or
voluntarily given up by private individuals. These raccoons are
often wild babies that people try to make pets or babies that
were sold as pets by raccoon breeders. Not only is it illegal
to take raccoons from the wild to be pets, you also must
possess a special permit to own one that has been bought
through legal means. The end result is usually the same - a
raccoon that may or may not be "tame", but definitely lacks the
fear of humans necessary for their own safety and release into
the wild.
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