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MONTREAL — The first time the Quebec environmental enforcement officers came for his raccoon, Louka Berman said he stashed the mammal in a park.
Berman said three officers from the provincial wildlife authority came to his Montreal apartment in early October with a warrant to seize the raccoon. He said he let them in but then grabbed the raccoon and ran.
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When he returned, he said one of the officers told him he’d be fined for obstruction of justice.
Weeks later, on Oct. 22, Berman said he once again took the raccoon and ran after seeing enforcement officers pulling up in the street next to his apartment.
“I didn’t take that chance. I’m being super paranoid. I mean, they want to kill my baby, why wouldn’t I be paranoid? So I just assumed the worst,” he said.
Berman named the raccoon Pepper. Together, the pair has now spent weeks dodging authorities, becoming local celebrities in Montreal and even collecting some money due to their online viral fame.
Now, Berman said he is living a nomadic life with the pet. He said he sleeps in his car or with friends. He leaves Pepper outside and he said the raccoon either stays in the same area or makes his way back to Berman.
“It’s been peaceful, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.
Berman said he has also cashed in over $10,000 from a cryptocurrency that was launched by someone else who created the “Pepper coin” and used the raccoon as the face of the new currency.
He said the person who developed the coin reached out online and offered him a cut of the transaction fees.
Another online fundraiser has collected over $3,000 since it was first posted on Oct. 15.
Berman said he hasn’t organized either, but hopes the money could be used to help build a new sanctuary for wild animals.
On Monday, he took his raccoon to meet the co-owner of a refuge north of Montreal and get vaccinated for rabies. Quebec is currently dealing with an outbreak of raccoon rabies, although it has not yet reached Montreal or the north shore of the St. Lawrence River.
“It’s good because it’s going to shut a lot of people up (who said), ‘What if (it) has rabies?’ No, (it’s) vaccinated, there’s nothing you can say,” he said.
Pepper is hard to shake
The bond between raccoon and man started when Berman found the injured baby animal in May. He left his job, thinking he would nurse Pepper back to health for a few weeks before freeing him.
Pepper would have none of it. Whenever Berman brought it to a park, the raccoon would find its way back to him.
In September, a video of Berman riding a bike with Pepper on his shoulder went viral on social media. He was quickly dubbed Montreal’s “raccoon guy.”
The provincial government doesn’t see it that way.
In order to keep a wild animal like a raccoon captive, people need to apply for a permit with the provincial environment ministry, Daniel Labonté, a spokesperson for the ministry, told The Canadian Press. However, Labonté added, even with a permit, keeping a raccoon as a pet is not allowed.
A first offence to this regulation could lead to a fine from $1,000 to $5,000, he said.
Labonté said the province’s wildlife authority received a report about “an individual who was riding a bicycle with a raccoon on his shoulder” and investigated the situation, but would not comment further.
The Montreal branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told The Canadian Press it does not condone domesticating wild animals like raccoons.
“These are animals that should, as much as possible, remain in their natural habitat. We advise citizens not to intervene with this species unless it is necessary,” a spokesperson wrote in an email statement.
This isn’t the first time an orphaned baby raccoon found itself on the government’s radar. In 2013, Jacques Lessard and Rachel Garenne nursed a raccoon they named Nymous back to health. When the government captured Nymous, Lessard and Garenne said they fought to get it back and eventually got a special permit to keep it.
Now they operate the refuge near Launaudière, north of Montreal, near where Garenne offered to meet Berman and administer the rabies shot to Pepper.
Nymous passed away in 2015, after complications from a sterilization operation, said Lessard. Tears started to well up in his eyes as he talked about how Pepper’s story reminded him of that experience.
“It’s so hard,” he said.
While recent governmental restrictions mean they can’t take in Pepper, Garenne was able to meet with Berman and Pepper in a grassy area around two kilometres away from the refuge.
Pepper snacked on a blueberry muffin and trail mix on a picnic table as Garenne and Berman chatted about the raccoon’s health. Berman periodically grabbed or play-fought with Pepper in what looked like a comfortable routine.
“It’s not a dangerous animal. I know people with dogs that are 10 times more dangerous. Does this look dangerous?” said Berman, holding up Pepper.
Berman has little doubt that the government would euthanize Pepper if the raccoon was seized.
“If the animal doesn’t deserve to die, there’s no reason why it should. I think that’s a simple mindset,” he said.
Labonté said the ministry tries to find a shelter or free seized animals, but that euthanasia remains an option as a last resort.
Berman said he is working on getting the necessary permits to open a modest refuge where he could keep up to 15 animals.
“As long as Pepper is alive, I think it’s just always going to find support — or until they decide to leave us alone, we’ll see what comes first,” said Berman.
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