HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. — Tennessee residents interested in owning a raccoon may soon find the process easier.
While the bill does not remove any of the legal requirements for ownership, it does remove the fee to obtain a permit.
But wildlife experts caution that raccoons are not easy to care for and shouldn’t be treated like a regular pet.
«People get them, and they think that they’re going to act like a cat or dog, or they’ve got like a Disney movie kind of fantasy.»
A fantasy that wildlife rescue expert Juniper Russo says is far from reality.
«They’re destructive. They bite. They don’t tend to fully house train. They’re not this perfect fantasy pet that I think a lot of people envision,» Russo says.
But a new Tennessee bill could make owning a raccoon a little easier.
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Lawmakers are considering removing the $31 possession permit fee for raccoons that are legally obtained.
At a committee hearing Monday, bill sponsor Senator Joey Hensley explained…
«It allows someone to possess a raccoon that they have obtained from a breeder, not a wild raccoon. They still have to get a permit.»
House sponsor Kip Capley further explained the process last week, saying…
«It has to be vaccinated, non-native, not captured from the wild, and they have to, the breeder that you get it from has to get a permit from, the agency as well, a possession permit.»
Supporters say it’s a small change…
Video via Juniper Russo
But Russo, who works with wildlife every day, say the impact could be much bigger.
«They’re already a gigantic problem that I have to deal with all the time.»
Russo says calls about pet raccoons are common. She handles about 60 every year.
«They get put to sleep, the majority of them,» Russo says.
Russo says bites are almost inevitable. Once a raccoon bites someone, it has to be euthanized to be tested for rabies.
Like Rigby, who Russo says she rescued after years of neglect:
Video via Juniper Russo
He ultimately had to euthanized.
And beyond behavior, Russo says there are serious health risks.
«Rabies is the one that people always think of, because that one’s kind of the most famous. But there are so many other major risks. One of the big ones is Bayless asterisk procyonis. That’s a type of roundworm that almost all raccoons carry in their feces, and it transmits easily to other animals, including humans.»
Russo points to a 2024 case in California where two children became seriously ill after exposure to a parasite linked to raccoons, causing severe neurological symptoms.
She says cases like this are exactly why wild animals don’t belong in your home.
«They deserve their freedom and they deserve their lives out in the wild, but they don’t belong in your kitchen,» Russo says.
A Senate committee passed the bill unanimously Monday. It now goes before a House committee Tuesday.
