The Case of the Pet Raccoon

Kellie Greer was walking in Cottage Grove Park near her Seattle home in June 2010 when she spotted two newborn raccoons. She’d already come across a dead adult raccoon in the road, which she assumed was their mother. Still, she waited several hours to see whether an adult raccoon would return for the babies, and when none did, she brought the tiny orphans home. One died that night, but the other held on. Kellie called the Progressive Animal Welfare Society and 15 animal rehabilitation centers in the area. None, she says, had space for the raccoon. So she and her husband, Chris Greer, decided to keep her. They named her Mae.

For seven years, Mae was part of the family, along with two kids, two cats, koi, and chickens. They walked her on a leash, trained her to use a litter box, and built an enclosure for her in their backyard. They called her “human-friendly.” In fact, she regularly posed for photos with the neighbor kids, Seattle police officers, and even Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) game wardens, whom the family ran into on annual fall camping trips to Icicle Creek park.

During one trip in November 2017, the Greers stopped for gas in Coulee City. While Chris pumped, Kellie walked Mae around the parking lot. A WDFW officer, Glenn Steffler, pulled in behind the Greers and asked whether they had a permit to possess a wild animal; it’s illegal to keep raccoons as pets in Washington. Chris fibbed and said yes.

But Steffler checked the records and discovered the truth. A week later, another officer knocked on the Greers’ door. Kellie invited him in. There was Mae, lying on the sofa.

“I need to take her,” the officer said. “Today?” Kellie asked. Yes, he said. Mae ended up at Center Valley Animal Rescue in Quilcene. She had a broken tooth and had been too domesticated to ever return to the wild. If she couldn’t be used for educational purposes at the rescue center, she might be euthanized. On December 5, 2017, the Greers sued for custody of Mae. At the Thurston County Superior Court hearing in April 2018, Chris turned to the WDFW’S attorney and said, “We don’t understand why you want her now.”

Should Mae the raccoon be returned to the Greer family?