£60 raccoon dogs ‘should not be pets’
THE RSPCA has warned against the new fad for keeping raccoon dogs.
The concern comes after a video was shared of the caged animals, considered to be wild, being sold openly for £60 each.
The footage was shot at Clitheroe Auction Mart, in Lancashire, at the Fur ’n’ Feather animal market.
It is legal to sell the animals but an RSPCA spokesman said: “We are very concerned about the trend of keeping raccoon dogs as pets. They are simply not suited to a domestic environment.”
The tree-climbers – native to East Asia – can grow to 28 inches long and pose a high level of threat to British wildlife. And the diseases they carry present a “considerable public health risk”, say scientists.