A sad end to this story.
A raccoon was found just outside the Starbucks location at Highway 25 and Market Drive. It was sluggish and was not putting pressure on one of its front paws. The Oakville & Milton Humane Society (OMHS) was called and quickly arrived on site to take the injured animal away.
The worker managed to put the raccoon in a catch. A quick assessment determined that the raccoon was suffering from distemper. A quick Google search brought us to the OMHS website, offering up this definition of the virus:
“Distemper is a virus that infects the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract, the spinal cord and the brain. It is generally always present in the raccoon population although at low levels. It is the second leading cause of death in raccoons.”
The rest of that article can be found here. It offers some great information on the virus.
The worker told us that distemper is incurable, and that it spreads very quickly among wildlife (in this case, canines). She said the raccoon was to be put down.
Thank you to the OMHS for the swift response. It’s just too bad the ending was what it was.
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