Vancouver police officers played the role of wildlife rescuer when responding to a call last week.
Officers arrived in east Vancouver to investigate a disturbance Friday and found a person carrying a baby raccoon.
Keeping wild animals is illegal, so officers contacted the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to make a plan. Fish and Wildlife staff told officers that “the safest course for the animal was to release it back to the wild,” said Britton Ransford, a department spokesperson.
Police spokesperson Kim Kapp said the people keeping the raccoon were not cited but officers reminded them of state laws.
Ransford said anyone who encounters young wildlife should observe from a distance and avoid handling the animal. If they’re injured or orphaned, Ransford said call a local wildlife office or rehabilitator for guidance.
Vancouver police highlighted the call on social media, noting that when Officer Alex Rich “isn’t busy commandeering every ride in town, he’s rescuing baby raccoons.”
Officers didn’t say where they released the animal.
“Just another day on patrol,” police wrote on X, “looking out for the community and sometimes its smallest residents.”
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