TROY, Mich. – A clearly sick raccoon was aggressive, foaming at the mouth and jumping around multiple homes Friday morning in Troy in a neighborhood filled with young children walking to school just feet from the subdivision.
Neighbors called Troy police and were told to call county animal control or the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The DNR said it was not their problem. Oakland County did too. Neighbors pushed back on Oakland County Animal Control and were bounced around to various numbers and voicemails.
“It was frustrating because no one could seem to tell us what to do,” said neighbor Beth Regner.
Someone at the county told neighbors to just let the animal go on its way.
With kids close by, that wasn’t an option. They trapped it themselves with a rake and a dog crate and reached out to a pest control company to come to get the poor thing.
Local 4 called the Oakland County Executive’s Office, which immediately started investigating what occurred.
Typically animal control does not respond to raccoons. However, if the animal is dangerous to people, especially children, they will and should come out.
Oakland County is getting to the bottom of the communication problem.
More: Michigan DNR proposes adding more animals to list of critters homeowners can kill without a permit
