Reward offered after baby raccoon severely burned in Barrie

A wildlife non-profit has offered a $1,000 reward for information about the person or persons allegedly responsible for severely burning a baby raccoon in Barrie. 

A three-to-four-month-old raccoon was taken to Procyon Wildlife Centre in Beeton by a Barrie resident on Sunday with severe burns on its face and body.

The Fur-Bearers, a national non-profit based in Vancouver, heard about the incident and offered the reward if the incident is confirmed to be an animal cruelty case in a press release on Thursday.

Debra Spiler, a director at Procyon Wildlife Centre, told CBC Toronto the injuries look like they were inflicted by a person, or persons.

"It looks like they have thrown an ignitable fluid on the baby and then tossed a match," she told CBC Toronto. "The woman who brought us the baby wasn't sure what (kind of animal) it was because it was so severely burned."

On Sunday, the raccoon was brought to the wildlife centre by Dianne Baddeley, a Barrie resident, who found the injured animal at Huronia North Park in Barrie.

Baddeley told the staff at the centre that this isn't the first time she has seen animals in distress in the park, and has found dead animals in the past.

Const. Sarah Bamford from Barrie police said they are investigating the incident as an animal cruelty case.

"Regular calls about animals will come in the summer and winter months about animals left in cars, but we have never had one like this," Bamford said in an interview with CBC Toronto.

​The raccoon remains in critical care and is being treated in an isolation room to prevent infection.

"A veterinarian has examined the baby raccoon and we are praying that it will recover," said Spilar. "It is on pain medication, antibiotics and ointment for the burns, in order to try and ease its pain."

According to Spiler, the raccoon could spend up to a year in their care if it survives.