Baby raccoon recovering after attempted drowning in Toronto backyard

A baby raccoon is recovering after it was found with its nose poking out of a cage that had been submerged in water in a garbage can in Toronto.

A man, 67, was charged in the alleged drowning attempt this week. The charge, an offence under section 445.1 of the Criminal Code, is willfully causing unnecessary pain, suffering or injury to an animal.

Toronto police said they received a few calls about an animal in distress in a backyard on Greyton Crescent, in the Dufferin Street and Eglinton Street West area, at about 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Callers reported hearing an animal squealing and crying loudly.

When officers from 13 Division arrived, they found the baby raccoon in the cage in a silver garbage can. The trash can had been filled with water and rocks had been placed on the cage.

"The animal was only able to keep its nose above water," Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, on Saturday. "Poor little thing."

Douglas-Cook said the man was arrested and the cage was lifted out of the water.

The Toronto Wildlife Centre said the officers then brought the animal to the centre, where staff members warmed it up and gave it oxygen. Staff also tried to stabilize the animal's blood sugar.

"Some people love raccoons and some people don't, but this kind of action is always unacceptable," the centre said in a statement.

"Raccoons suffer and feel pain just like any other animal, and this baby didn't deserve this awful attack."

A Facebook post by the centre on the raccoon's recovery has received more than 820 likes and been shared more than 270 times.

The centre thanked police for helping the baby raccoon.