Drunk Raccoon Merch Raises $290,000 for Virginia Animal Shelter
Sales of "trashed panda" shirts raised more than $290,000 for Hanover County's animal shelter in Virginia. Where the money is going, from bodycams to an emergency fund.
A raccoon that got drunk inside a Virginia liquor store last December has helped raise more than $290,000 for the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter. The money comes from merchandise printed with the animal’s face and the slogan “trashed panda,” The Washington Post reported, according to the New York Post.
That total is more than 14 times what the shelter usually collects in donations in a year, which is less than $20,000. The county is spending part of it on body cameras for its animal protection officers and is weighing an emergency fund for injured animals.
The break-in at the Ashland ABC Store
The raccoon got into the Ashland ABC Store and drank from 14 bottles of alcohol, including rum and moonshine. It was found asleep next to a toilet, and the story went viral.
Officials took the animal to the shelter to “sober up before questioning,” in their words, and later released it back into the wild. “Hopefully he’s living a good life somewhere,” said Jeffrey Parker, Hanover County’s chief of animal protection.
How a joke turned into a fundraiser
The county began selling apparel with the raccoon’s likeness, and sales took off. It then added seasonal designs, among them a Halloween shirt reading “Trick of Trashed,” according to The Washington Post. Parker said the department never expected a raccoon to bring in this kind of money.
Where the money is going
Hanover County officials voted unanimously on Oct. 28 to buy body cameras for the department’s eight animal protection officers. The cameras will record evidence in animal abuse investigations and in complaints made against officers. Officers will begin wearing them in January.
Board supervisor Faye Prichard told the meeting that the county had rarely owed any animal as much as it owed this raccoon, the Post reported.
After the bodycam purchase, the department still has $140,000 from the merchandise sales. Parker said it is considering using that money to set up an emergency fund for treating injured animals.
What it means for the shelter and local animals
For a shelter that normally works with less than $20,000 a year in donations, the raccoon money changes what it can pay for. Cruelty investigations will have camera footage starting in January, and the remaining $140,000 could cover emergency care for injured animals if the department goes ahead with the fund. No decision on the fund has been announced.
Source: New York Post
