Elderly woman attacked by raccoon she let into house after mistaking it for her cat

An 88-year-old woman from Hamden, Connecticut, was attacked on Sunday night by a raccoon she accidentally let into her home and then tried to pet, thinking it was her cat. The woman was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital to be treated for several injuries. She had been released from the hospital by Monday morning.

Officers responded at about 11pm to a report of a wild animal attack at a home, Capt. Ronald Smith said. Police found that the woman was attacked after a raccoon followed her cat into her home through a sliding glass door. The woman had heard a scratching sound outside the door and opened it to let her cat in, Smith said.



When the woman attempted to pet what she thought was her cat, the raccoon attacked her, biting her on the elbow, hand, forearm, lip and chin. The woman was transported to the hospital by ambulance. The raccoon charged two officers when they arrived at the house, according to Smith. The raccoon was caught and euthanized “before it inflicted further damage,” Smith said.

The Hamden Animal Control Division transported the raccoon to the Connecticut Public Health Laboratory in Rocky Hill for rabies testing. In February a 73-year-old Hingham, Massachusetts woman was attacked by a raccoon that entered her home through a door flap her cat used to get inside the house.