ATTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man and woman face fines of $500 each after they took a raccoon to a pet store to shop for food and a store worker ratted them out, authorities said.
A state Department of Environmental Conservation police officer got an urgent call from the Erie County Department of Health about a potentially rabid raccoon on June 2, the department said in a news release.
The health department said a couple had brought a raccoon to a pet store for food and supplies and a store employee contacted authorities. Raccoons are considered dangerous wild animals because they are known to carry and transmit the deadly rabies virus.