Toronto taking ‘immediate action’ to pickup dead raccoons, wildlife cadavers as cases pile up

The City of Toronto says crews will take immediate action to pick up dead animals, primarily raccoons with distemper, as residents continue to notify of an alarming number of wildlife cadavers on city streets.

CityNews reported on a rapid increase in 311 calls reporting dead raccoons, with one city leader going as far as to call it a crisis in Toronto. Animal services said it’s severely backlogged responding to the number of dead animal pickups.

On Thursday, a city spokesperson said additional Toronto Animals Services (TAS) staff had been assigned to assist with decreased response times and help alleviate the pileup.

The current distemper outbreak is concentrated in Toronto-Danforth and Beaches-East York.

“Beginning next week, the City will also deploy additional staff resources from Solid Waste Management Services and Transportation Services to assist with the pickup of cadavers,” a spokesperson said.

“This multi-divisional effort will help with the unprecedented level of cadaver service requests which has now reached more than 900 requests city-wide.”

Distemper most common in raccoons, animals with the disease must be euthanized

In the last month, there has been a sharp increase in raccoons contracting distemper. The city says this has led to an uptick in service requests related to sick and injured wildlife and cadaver removal.

Distemper is a viral infection caused by the canine distemper virus. In addition to dogs, various animal species can get distemper, most notably raccoons and foxes, wolves, coyotes, skunks, mink and ferrets. Raccoons with distemper may move slowly and stumble as they walk.

The city says distemper is typically seen among Toronto’s raccoon population every two to three years.

“Outbreaks usually occur between May and November and will dissipate when colder weather arrives,” the city spokesperson noted.

“The City is monitoring this issue closely and has noticed a slight decrease in service requests during the first week of November.”

Raccoon cadavers pose a low risk to humans and animals. Still, residents are reminded to avoid physical contact with raccoons. Pet owners are still advised to vaccinate their pets against distemper and rabies, monitor them closely outdoors, and keep them under their control.

“I want to thank City of Toronto staff for working together to address this unprecedented level of cadaver pickup requests largely due to a raccoon distemper outbreak,” Mayor John Tory said.

“This multi-divisional effort will help address some of the issues we’re seeing now with wildlife and is an important step to ensure we continue to have the clean and liveable city that residents and businesses expect.”