Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter
Last year, we were treated to an incredibly amusing story courtesy of a raccoon that was found passed out next to a toilet after raiding a liquor store in Virginia. The animal control department that responded to the call took full advantage of the viral moment, and it has revealed the impressive amount of money it was able to raise courtesy of the tipsy critter.
You never know what you’re going to encounter when you clock in for a shift as an animal control officer, as people in that line of work need to be prepared to respond to a wide variety of calls involving fauna that have managed to cause some sort of trouble.
Raccoons have a tendency to do exactly that due to their reputation for being opportunistic scavengers who are constantly on the hunt for an easy meal, and last November, a trash panda made headlines after making its way into a liquor store in Virginia and getting trashed on the booze that poured from the bottles it broke while exploring.
An animal control officer who responded to the call encountered the animal passed out on the ground directly next to the toilet in the bathroom, and the internet had a field day with that incredibly relatable scene.
The department that was summoned leveraged the story into a fundraiser, and it certainly reaped the benefits based on how much money it was able to rake in.
Hanover County Animal Control raked in a six-figure sum courtesy of the drunk raccoon who passed out in a liquor store
The liquor store in question was an ABC outpost located in Hanover, Virginia, and the town’s animal control department wasted no time peddling “Trashed Panda” merchandise, including shirts and coffee cups, that helped raise more than $100,000 in less than a week.
We’re less than three weeks away from the first anniversary of the incident, and WWBT recently chatted with Hanover County Animal Control to discuss the impact the intoxicated raccoon (which was released into the wild after sobering up) had on the department’s budget.
Jeffrey Parker, who serves as the chief of animal protection, says his unit received more than $280,000 in donations due to merch sales, and a significant chunk of the proceeds will be used to pay for a body camera program that was made possible in part by the money that will cover the first year of the new initiative.
The animal shelter the department runs will also reap the benefits, as it will use funds for “new housing for animals, toys, a temperature-controlled food shed, and a community and pet pantry.”
And to think it was all made possible by a raccoon that couldn’t hold its booze.