In early December, US social media airwaves got drunk off the hilarity of a Virginia raccoon that was discovered unconscious in a bathroom after breaking into a Richmond liquor store on what can only be described as a class A bender.
Hanover County Animal Protection revealed the story on Facebook after one of their officers was called to the scene to escort the raccoon off the premises.
Now, a fundraiser in honor of the event has raised over $180,000 for the shelter.
Known somewhat affectionately as “trash pandas” after their penchant for dumpster diving, it didn’t take George Carlin to reason that the raccoon caught in a drunk stupor was a “trashed panda.”
“On Saturday morning, Officer Martin responded to an unusual call at the Ashland ABC Store. Upon arrival, she discovered the ‘suspect’ had broken in, ransacked several shelves, and then… passed out in the bathroom,” Hanover County Animal Protection first wrote on Facebook on December 2nd.
“Officer Martin safely secured our masked bandit and transported him back to the shelter to sober up before questioning. After a few hours of sleep and zero signs of injury (other than maybe a hangover and poor life choices), he was safely released back to the wild, hopefully having learned that breaking and entering is not the answer.”
Two days later, Bonfire, a company that allows clients to upload their designs onto simple merchandise options like hoodies and tumblers, was offering a line of “trashed panda” merch, with all proceeds going towards the animal shelter in Hanover.
By December 5th, $100,000 had been raised.
Each shirt, hoodie, or coffee mug had a slightly artistic depiction of the collapsed raccoon in the photo taken by Officer Martin, next to an open liquor bottle and a hashtag for the animal shelter.
$100,000 eventually became $180,000, all of which will go to support the animals in their shelter and train their officers to respond to the next trashed panda, or any other animal in need of help or a counselor in the Lovers’ State.
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