Nassau cops remove raccoon from woman’s Hicksville backyard

A Hicksville woman called police when she discovered a raccoon in her backyard over the weekend.

Viera Roubik, 70, said she at first thought it was a stray cat from a nearby vacant lot on the corner of Bloomingdale Road and Albert Road sunning itself because it wasn’t moving.

“When I went out I knew that it’s a raccoon,” Roubik said. She was worried her dog would be bitten and her daughter brought the pet inside. After making a series of phone calls to agencies she finally reached Nassau County police, who, she said, asked whether the raccoon was alive or dead.

A Nassau police spokeswoman on Sunday confirmed a call about a raccoon came from Roubik’s address about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, but said no report was filed.

Roubik didn’t see the raccoon move and told the officer it was dead. The police officer told her she had to remove the body herself. The police spokeswoman confirmed that police policy is that they don’t remove dead animals from property.

Roubik said a neighbor’s son came over to dispose of the body but “he said to me, ‘Viera, the raccoon is alive.’ ”

She called police again and a special unit showed up and, she said, told her the raccoon had rabies and they gave it an injection and removed it. The police spokeswoman said emergency services units do respond to reports of live raccoons. Police did not confirm the raccoon had rabies.

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