While most raccoons that bite a citizen would immediately be euthanized and checked for rabies, Roscoe the raccoon of the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary was lucky enough to have people fighting for his life.
On May 16th Roscoe bit a Heard staff member. But certain circumstances led the staff of the Heard, including the woman who was bitten, to argue against Roscoe being euthanized and fight against the city of McKinney.
Roscoe was a rescue animal and has been in captivity since 2009. For this reason he is up to date on rabies vaccination, making the chances of him being dangerous extremely low. He has also been safe from being exposed to other wild animal diseases that could warrant him as a threat. This argument has been used in the ongoing battle between the Heard and the city and has -- for the time being -- kept Roscoe alive.
The debate will continue on until later this summer, when a Collin County judge will make the final decision. But the staff and members of the Heard see no reason to euthanize the animal.
In my opinion, the risk of the animal biting someone else is now on the table, despite his currency on vaccinations. This time he bit an employee's finger, but next time a guest -- even a child -- could be bitten in an area that could leave life-long scars or permanent damage.
If your pet dog were to seriously bite a neighbor, would you keep that dog around? The same goes for raccoons, who by nature are more vicious than house dogs. The risks of Roscoe biting and seriously injuring someone are much too high to consciously keep the raccoon around.
How do you feel about this issue?
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I’m someone who has been feeding Roscoe for almost every Friday for the last 4 years. I’m a volunteer. I do not get paid to feed Roscoe. I’m an animal lover. I do it for the opportunity to learn about an animal that I normally would have little contact with. There are several of us that work and volunteer at the Heard that interact with Roscoe. We all work with him with caution. He is a raccoon. Unlike a domesticated dog, it is in his nature to bite. We know this. If you talk to anyone, whether at the Heard or the Dallas Zoo, or anywhere else that has non-domesticated animals for exhibit, you will discover that anyone that works with those animals work with the expectation that they may be injured in some way. And many are. Some injuries are significant, some are not. This is the nature of the work. Even if we wanted to, the Heard is prevented from training Roscoe to significantly alter his natural behavior by federal regulations and permitting restrictions. We are not allowed to even act with them as if they are pets. This is regulated by the permit we work under. So, we work with Roscoe with extreme caution. He does not deserve to be euthanized. Yes, there is a possibility that he may hurt someone else. That possibility exists with any of the animals that live at the Heard or at any other animal exhibit facility in the world. Are we to kill them all? What purpose does it serve to destroy an animal in this way? We take all the precautions we can. We make sure that the animals are regularly treated for rabies and other diseases. We all understand that we have to maintain high vigilance around these animals. If we choose to destroy all and any animal that poses a threat, this world would be absent most wildlife. Is this how we want our world to be? Let Roscoe be the wild, albeit imprinted animal he is. Let us all learn that we must have compassion and common sense when dealing with these animals that have already been mistreated when someone took them in as babies and then abandoned them to survive without the skills that they would have learned in the wild. Let Roscoe live.
In Defense of Roscoe ....
I have interned and worked at the Heard for 3 years and am very familiar with Roscoe. He has an outdoor habitat in the Animals of the World sanctuary at the Heard and often times is the highlite of tours. Roscoe was found by a family several years ago when he was just a pup and without his mother. The family took him in and cared for him until he became too large and too much of a burden. Because he is tame he cannot be released into the wild, so the Heard took him in. He has always been one of the friendliest animals at the Heard. When he sees employees walking toward him with a handful of his favorite snacks (acorns) he will hold his hand outside of his habitat, palms up like a child begging for a treat. Whenever visitors walk down the trail he will meander over to the front of his enclosure and pace back and forth giving the public a great view of his bushy tail and "Zorro mask".
Unfortunately, with animals like Roscoe it can be very easy to mistake his friendly demeanor for that of a household dog. Although Roscoe has been around humans for his entire life, he is still a wild animal genetically wired to act certain ways in certain situations. The employee at the Heard forgot this, was too relaxed around Roscoe within his enclosure, he acted upon instinct and bit the employee. Although it was just a warning snap, it was enough to break the skin on one of the employee's fingers. It would be a travesty to end Roscoe's life only because he acted out of instinct when an employee became too careless. The risk of one of these animals attempting to bite someone is of course always on the table. That is why such animals are always kept a safe distance away from the public and only trained staff are allowed to get close enough to touch them. It is impossible for Roscoe to harm the public unless they steal a key and break into his habitat.
If you have ever been to the Heard you know who Roscoe is and you know that there is no better spokesman for one of Texas' most beloved animals. Letting him be euthanized would be an unnecessary detriment to the Heard as well as the people of Northeast Texas.