Bill Would Round Up Menacing Raccoons, Free Them In Parks

A new bill which just passed through committee seeks to relocate feral raccoons from neigborhood streets to parks.

The move is part of an effort to humanely control the raccoon population wandering Queens, and other residential areas of the city.

Its sponsor, Tony Avella, said he introduced the bill last year after receiving calls from residents disgruntled with the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene, which Avella says only removes rabid or dead raccoons.

His legislation would require DOHMH to remove all raccoons that are causing a nuissance to homeowners, and release them into NYC Parks.

A spokesman for the NYC Parks Dept., Zachary Feder, said, "We’re not involved in this," when asked if the agency had any scruples about letting the critters squat on park land.

Feder said it was an issue for the DOHMH, which vaccinates animals that they release. Patch made an inquiry to the agency, to ask if officials believe releasing the critters into park lands will contain the animals, or abate breeding rates. DOHMH did not respond for comment.

Avella says they often don't respond the way property owners would like.

Many homeowners who called DOHMH to complain about raccoons had been told that they are a “part of nature,” according to Avella, and that the agency cannot remove them. Those homeowners then have the choice of using expensive removal services, or living with the hungry trespassers.

“Such a curt response is insulting to taxpaying homeowners who have been harassed by raccoon infestations and, in many cases, have experienced property damage from raccoons who clawed into their homes looking for food," said Avella.

Forest Hills residents are familiar with

An unidentified raccoon is the main culprit in the death of a domestic cat right in the . The perpetrator had pried the screen right off a fifth-floor apartment, .

"Moreover, even non-rabid raccoons present a danger to residents and domestic animals and present a public health danger as a result of being carriers of diseases such as canine distemper and raccoon roundworm," Avella said, adding, "Unfortunately, residents throughout this City have no protection against raccoons that have become increasingly brazen and more accustomed to human contact.”

Avella says he knows the bill isn't the complete solution to the problem, but is a step in the right direction. It would work as a companion to