Winnipeg police have shot five raccoons in the past 10 days due to concerns about canine distemper.

The animals were all in the Rossmere area of the city, near Greene Avenue.

The Manitoba government issued a press release last month cautioning people about the disease being reported in some raccoons in the Winnipeg and Headingley areas.

Dean Berezanski, a wildlife biologist with Manitoba Conservation, said 78 raccoons have been put down since early July in the Winnipeg and Headingley areas.

Winnipeg police had to come in and help in some cases, shooting five of the infected raccoons.

"It can be frustrating. We do want to help the public and we are trying to respond as best we can," Berezanski told CBC News on Wednesday.

"Police do have the authority to euthanize raccoons in that situation, and they do it at their discretion."

A police spokesman said officers must follow certain protocol whenever their firearms are discharged with respect to animals, but no internal review is required.

Raccoon collapsed in man's yard

Resident Jim Treller said he was in his Greene Avenue backyard on Tuesday when a sick raccoon lumbered in, in broad daylight, and collapsed.

"It looked like it had been on a binge; it had been drinking. It was walking but very unsteady on his feet," he said.

"He looked sick. There's no other two ways about it. It looked like somebody who'd been out in the sun too long."

Treller said he called 311 and a few hours later, conservation officers showed up and took the ailing raccoon away.

Treller's story is just one of many involving raccoons that CBC News reporter Katie Nicholson encountered on Wednesday.

"People here are increasingly nervous about letting their children or pets out into the backyard in case they too have a run-in with a distempered raccoon," she said.

Raccoons believed to have canine distemper act disoriented or lethargic, show crusted eyes and excess mucus coming from their nose, and have shallow breathing, stated the release from the provincial office of the chief veterinarian.

If people see raccoons in this condition they are asked to keep away from them and to make a report to the Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship.

People are not at risk of the disease, but it can easily spread from raccoons to dogs. Infected dogs usually experience deterioration of mental abilities and motor skills.

People can keep the number of raccoons around their homes down by making sure their garbage is secure.