Authorities have asked for information about the woman who brought in the raccoon.
A baby raccoon was euthanised in Maine in the United States over concerns that it was possibly carrying rabies. The animal was spotted at a pet store on Tuesday after a woman brought it there for nail trimming. NBC News said some people at the Petco store handled and even kissed the baby raccoon. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, in a Facebook post, sought information about the woman who brought the “juvenile raccoon” into the store for grooming service.
The store manager asked the woman to leave after they reached out to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maine Warden Service about the raccoon, the outlet further said.
“It is illegal to possess wildlife in Maine, and Petco does not trim raccoon nails,” the department said on Facebook.
“Raccoons are one of the most common carriers of rabies in Maine. Rabies is lethal unless treated after exposure,” it added.
The wildlife department also urged those who came into racoon’s contact to contact their health providers.
“Rabies is spread through a rabid animal’s saliva or neural tissue, and a person can be exposed when that saliva or neural tissue of a rabid animal comes in contact with a person through a bite or scratch, cut in the skin, or gets into the eyes, nose, or mouth,” it explained.
After the advise, an update on the Facebook post said that the animal tested negative for the disease, so those exposed no longer need to seek treatment.
According to NBC News, the raccoon was required to be tested for rabies in order to be euthanized, per Maine’s guidelines for rabies testing.