Make New York Post a Preferred Source A raccoon that went viral last year for going on a drunken rampage inside a Virginia liquor store has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for an animal shelter.
The trashed raccoon was discovered snoozing in a booze-induced haze by the toilet last December after helping itself to 14 bottles of alcohol in the Ashland ABC Store.
The Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter has since raised more than $290,000 from selling merchandise emblazoned with the masked bandit’s likeness and the slogan “trashed panda,” The Washington Post reported.
After boozy raccoon apparel sales skyrocketed, the county also began selling seasonal shirts, including a Halloween-themed “Trick of Trashed” shirt, the outlet said.
The money raised from the merchandise exceeds the shelter’s typical yearly donations of less than $20,000 by more than 14 times.
“We never thought a raccoon would do this for us,” said Jeffrey Parker, Hanover County’s chief of animal protection.
The influx of cash will allow the department to order body cameras for its eight animal protection officers to record evidence for investigations into animal abuse cases and complaints against officers.
Hanover County officials unanimously approved the new bodycams during a meeting on Oct. 28, and officers will start using them in January.
“I don’t know when we’ve owed a debt of gratitude to any animal as much as we do to that raccoon,” board supervisor Faye Prichard said at the meeting, according to the outlet.
The department still has $140,000 saved from the raccoon sales and is considering creating an emergency fund to treat injured animals, Parker said.
After the infamous raccoon sampled bottles of rum and moonshine, officials transported it to the shelter to “sober up before questioning,” and later released it back into the wild.
“Hopefully he’s living a good life somewhere,” Parker said, “and is being sober.”
