Raccoon
Raccoon
Helene recounts the violent encounter she and her dogs, Chip and Salsa, had with a vicious raccoon. She was out for a walk in downtown Vancouver's Coal Harbour neighbourhood around 4:30 p.m. last week when out of nowhere a raccoon charged at her, biting her legs and then grabbing her dogs.

"I reached in to get my two dogs out. Then the raccoon looks at me very angry and starts attacking me," she said.

Despite being overcome with fear, Helene was able to fight back.

"He was stuck on biting my legs. He was on my left leg and I was kicking him as hard as I could with my right leg."

She screamed and tried to get into her apartment, but the raccoon followed and kept charging at Helene and her dogs.

"I was afraid for my own life."


She almost made it inside, but couldn't open the door because she was holding Chip and Salsa in her arms while the animal continued to attack.

"When the raccoon saw that he had cornered me, he became even more aggressive and started going up on me and reaching for my dogs."

As she frantically kicked the door, the raccoon grabbed at Salsa's harness. Salsa slipped down and ran away in fear. After a frantic search, Helene found her dog dead in the middle of Georgia Street. It's believed she was hit by oncoming traffic.

Helene is hoping her traumatic experience will help raise awareness and prevent another tragedy. It's not the first time these types of attacks have happened in the area. In 2012, there were two unprovoked raccoon attacks, one in Coal Harbour and another in the West End. In 2014, there was another attack in the West End, this one involving a puppy. Still, animal control experts say attacks like these are rare.