Dead raccoon that sparked a social media frenzy after being left on Toronto sidewalk gets commemorative plaque

A commemorative plaque for Conrad the Raccoon is erected at Yonge and Church in Toronto. (Courtesy of Heritage Toronto)

Heritage Toronto is commemorating a famous Toronto raccoon whose passing made international headlines exactly a decade ago.

A plaque has been erected at Church and Yonge streets to remember Conrad the Raccoon, the critter who went viral in 2015 after its remains laid on the sidewalk for 14 hours, prompting pedestrians to create a shrine around him. The hashtag #DeadRaccoonTO soon followed as photos of the memorial went viral on social media.

Conrad’s plaque includes photos of tweets that helped the shrine blow up online, imprints of raccoon paws, educational text on the history of the creature in the city, as well as a QR code, which takes users to a site where they can leave their condolences. The unique appearance of the plaque has made some wonder if it’s official.

Meg Sutton, plaques co-ordinator with Heritage Toronto, confirms the plaque is the real deal. The current acrylic version will be up for a month with the QR code to promote engagement, the first from Heritage Toronto to do so. It will eventually be replaced with a near-identical porcelain and enamel version with a bronze backing, but without the QR code, which requires upkeep.

“We wanted to play into that interactivity and engagement with people around Toronto, because everyone has their own raccoon story,” she told CTV News. “And this whole viral moment started with a tweet.”

So far more than 200 people have scanned the QR code and 435 have visited the plaque’s page on their website.

Most Heritage Toronto plaques are nominated by the public. Anyone can fill out a form on their website to nominate a heritage site, a deceased person or an event to commemorate, with 30 to 40 new ones added around the city every year. However, Heritage Toronto chooses one to include annually, and this year Sutton and her colleagues felt that the 10 year anniversary of Conrad’s death would be a perfect moment in Toronto history to highlight, as well as help inform the public on the city’s unofficial mascot.

“It’s ranged through the years of what our curated signs have been,” she said. “This plaque is particularly special because it does commemorate a viral moment…but half the plaque educates about raccoons in the city.”

Sutton is happy to see how much engagement people have had with the plaque so far.

“Toronto does have such a cute relationship with these little mammals,” she said. “It’s great to see people get so excited about it and excited about a plaque. Sometimes we need a little more fun in the world.”

Toronto is home to one of the most robust heritage plaque programs in the world, with over 900 Heritage Toronto plaques that range in size, found around the city.