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Queen Anne dog recovering from raccoon attack

August 7th, 2009 · Comments

After being viciously attacked by a raccoon in the backyard of their Queen Anne home a week and a half ago, the Metzner family say Rosie, a 4-year-old Maltese, is doing much better.

Early in the morning on July 27, the Metzners, who live on the 2100 block of 10th Avenue West, were startled to hear their dog yelping outside. A large raccoon was attempting to pull the 5 pound dog through a small space between the side fence and deck, when Sue, Rosie’s owner, found them. Sue writes,

The attack happened at about 5 a.m. when I get up to get ready for work. She ran to the back corner of our fenced in yard and suddenly started yelping.  When I went to help her, I could see that her foot was stuck under the fence and when I tried to free her, I could feel and hear the raccoon on the other end. It was awful.

I freaked out and started yelling at the top of my lungs for some help. My husband came and ran outside the fence and literally grabbed the raccoon off of her and started yelling that we needed a tourniquet and had to get her to the emergency clinic “now”.

Rosie, the 4-year-old Maltese, before the raccoon attack that left her without a limb
Rosie, pictured above before the attack, was severely injured, especially in her right hind leg and tail, which were gnawed by the raccoon. After fighting off the animal, the family rushed Rosie to the Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, and later to the Emerald City Emergency Clinic in Wallingford, where veterinarians amputated her right leg and part of her tail, which the raccoon had chewed beyond salvage.

As of Wednesday, Rosie has undergone another successful surgery, removing more of the infected area around her leg and tail. According to her family, she is doing well and “appears to be a lot less uncomfortable.”

Sue writes,

I am sickened by what happened and feel that people should know the dangers that exist regarding these animals that Disney thinks are so cute.

The family believes the raccoon had been living under their porch with three others (one close in size to the attacker, and two smaller), and have since sealed off the space. As most Queen Anne residents know, raccoon sightings are not uncommon. Though the Metzners have not seen the four raccoons since, they wanted to warn the community, especially those with small pets. They have three other Maltese dogs themselves. Sue adds,

The vets said that they have seen a lot of raccoon attacks this summer and she did better than many.

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  • kamie
    My maltese was just attacked tonight at around 11pm. 3rd and Boston. My husband was able to corner the raccoon and it let our dog go. He appears to have very minor surface cuts from teeth around his ears and neck. There was quite a bit of saliva too. I am very concerned. This raccoon was huge.
  • lorenmooney
    These raccoons are extremely aggressive. Our dog Buddy was attacked by a raccoon at 5:30 this morning. (2nd West and West Boston). Buddy is about the same size as Rosie. He was on his leash just heading out our front door for his morning walk with my wife when the raccoon grabbed him by the rear leg and dragged him into the bushes. My wife fought the raccoon and got it to release Buddy by screaming and kicking it in the face. When she got Buddy away from the raccoon and tried to get him and our other small dog back into the house, the raccoon went after my wife trying to get to Buddy in her arms. She had to fight it off again by kicking it in the face some more and then ran into the house.

    My wife was unharmed and Buddy is recovering. Buddy was not as seriously injured as Rosie, but he is pretty chewed up and hurting tonight. We've hired a wildlife control specialist to place live traps in our yard. Hopefully these raccoons can be removed from the area soon. In the mean time, please be extremely careful with your pets. Watch out for raccoons, even before you walk out your front door.
  • suebream
    Wow! I am saddened by all of these horrifying stories. Thanks so much for all of your well-wishes to Rosie. She is getting around pretty well on three legs. We have gotten rid of the raccoons for now.....discovered a big "raccoon latrine" outside of our house, cleaned it up, and blocked off access to under our deck.

    What do we do about the raccoons? I saw a mom and young raccoons in a tree one afternoon just last week in the cemetary on QA. We glared at each other.

    I hope that people are at least more aware of the problem and potential danger to our pets and it sounds like to humans too.

    There are trappers out there, for a fee. There are also "Have a Heart" traps that you can rent yourself and then decide what to do with the raccoons.
    We have lived in our house for 15 years, always had dogs, and this was our first incident...hopefully our last.
  • nichole
    I was walking my Yorkie in Queen Anne and a Racoon came out of the bushes after my dog. I pulled her up by her leash in my arms before the racoon got her and then the Racoon attacked me! It crawled up my leg on my back for my dog . I can still feel it's hairy little body. My husband beat it with his flip flop until the vicious creature started chasing him. My husband had to run around a parked car a few times before the racoon gave up the chase and retreated back into the bushes.
  • QAcyclist
    There were 2 huge racoons fighting with each other this morning in a large pine tree on the east side of 10th Ave W (~1942 according to google earth). I initially thought someone was beating a cat.

    We had large racoons in the 'burbs but these Queen Anne racoons seem to be much more brazen and acclimated to people. With their size, they could easily have taken on a sub 20 pound dog.
  • Gene1
    I'm sorry little Rosie was so badly injured and hope for her speedy recovery.

    I live on Sunset Hill and am not sure if the following is a sign of aggression caused by overpopulation as cited by Jody below. A couple of weeks ago I left my Tevas on the back deck to dry out and the next morning my boyfriend told me a raccoon had dragged one to the corner of the yard and attempted to eat it for breakfast. (He saw the little so-and-so and chased it away after the considerable damage was done.) Though it certainly can't compare to the pain of a beloved pet (or oneself) being injured by a raccoon, I could've done without the expense of replacing my Tevas.
  • Jody
    We live in Magnolia, close to the village. My two small dogs were attacked two summers ago at about about 9:00 p.m. in our backyard. I heard the attack, ran outside and left the door open. The dogs ran in the door through my legs, with the raccoon close behind them. The raccoon started biting and scratching my legs. Very frightening. I had to get rabies shots (just to be safe), they were painful and VERY expensive (I have health insurance too).
    I hired a trapper to get rid of 8+ raccoons. There are still many more. Trapper said when they get overpopulated, they become more aggressive ....
    It doesn't help that many of my elderly neighbors set out food for the raccoons.
    The whole incident ended up costing $5,000+. But dogs were not hurt at least : )
  • Debi Fortin
    My dog was also attacked by racoons recently. We are on the 1600 block of 1st Ave N. It was about 9pm at night on July 21st. Shorty was in the back yard, and I had all of the doors and windows open, because it was hot outside. I went outside to the front yard, and saw two raccoons hop over the fence. I ran back into the house, but by the time I got to the back yard, the raccoons already got him. One of them had him by the tail, and was shaking him. I pulled Shorty by his harness, with the raccoon hanging onto him, and got the dog into the house and slammed the door on the raccoon. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to us.

    Shorty's tail is still healing. Thank goodness he had all of his shots. Anyone who thinks raccoons are only scavengers, and that they would not hurt pets or people, does not understand raccoons.

    I hope sweet little Rosie is recovering and doing much better. Shorty sends his well wishes.
  • Ballardmom
    That's so sad. :(
    Apparently just a couple days ago our neighbor's yorkie was badly hurt in an attack by a raccoon. The dog survived but it's just a tiny little thing - not even 10 pounds. Raccoons are really cute but they are mean. I don't even let my pitbull out in the yard in the evening if I know the raccoons are around.
  • yourgreenwoodneighbor
    We live in Greenwood -- last November, a raccoon attacked our (25 pound) Scottie dog right in our fenced backyard. I had to HIT the raccoon to get it to let go, and got our dog to a late night emergency vet. She is ok, she didn't even need stitches...but now I don't let her out even in our backyard without watching her.
  • misswinegirl
    I live over on the eastside, and we have had coyote attacks on small animals in the past week that have killed 3 cats (In kirklnnd!) I am so sorry about the dog, but I am glad to hear Rosie will make it. What a horrifying experience... I am glad you are sharing to make others aware.
  • hummingbird
    Wow how awful that must have been. I can't imagine any animal let alone a wild one holding my baby aka pet in its teeth and trying to drag the poor thing away!! I know raccoons are 'wild' animals and not domesticated and although I've heard they will attack a cat if they feel threatened but this little Maltese running toward it I would have imagined it briefly using force esp if it had babies nearby but gnawing and dragging :( etc (aware of my record run-on sentence here!) I am so glad little Rosie has a family that can and will give her all the medical care she needs. Gods speed to all of you. What a nightmare.
  • Becca
    When I was researching how to best construct a coop for my urban chickens, I was told that if a raccoon could even reach a paw through a crack in the wire or the coop's walls, it could rip a chicken to bits and pull it out bite by bite - yikes!! - I guess the experience of this dog being attacked from the opposite side of a fence confirms this.

    I send my best wishes for further recovery!
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