Many Canadians think raccoons are adorable while others tend to have a love-hate relationship with the furry mammals -- raccoons love riffling through garbage and many people hate picking up the rotting scraps they leave behind.
But Wendy Hook of Saskatoon believes that raccoons make great companions, and says she recently went to get a pet licence for her pet raccoon Dennis. Hook posted the following message on Facebook on Tuesday:
“Can you believe Saskatoon thinks he should leave! C'mon everybody, help him stay, give his page a like and show them Dennis is an exception!”
Hook claims in other Facebook messages that raccoons are “intelligent creatures” and are “smart enough to not bite the hand that feeds them,” but admits they carry some “awful diseases and parasites when in their natural habitat.”
Raccoons are clearly intelligent with dextrous front paws that seem able to break into just about any garbage bin across the country, but could they actually be good pets?
Raccoonworld.com, an advocate site for raccoons that promotes rehabilitation and rescue, has a clear warning for potential pet owners.
“Raccoons are not pets in the way that cats and dogs are, no matter how many generations have been bred in captivity. They will melt your heart with their loving face. And shed your blood (and anything else you may value) with their razor sharp teeth and claws,” the site claims.
Provincial legislation allows Saskatchewan residents to keep raccoons as pets, but Saskatoon bylaws are clear, raccoons are not welcome and are “prohibited” under the municipal animal control bylaw.
The City of Saskatoon pet licensing department has not yet responded to a CTVNews.ca inquiry, but John Moran, manager of the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo fully supports bylaws against exotic pets.
“Wild animals do not make good pets. The bylaw is a good bylaw. It ensures that people do not have dangerous wild animals as pets. There are many municipalities and provinces are revamping their laws to crack down on exotic pets and that’s a good thing,” he said.
Moran referenced the tragic story of Noah and Connor Barthe -- two young boys killed by a rock python in Campbellton, N.B. in 2013 -- to highlight the dangers of exotic pets.
