LENEXA, Kan. — Stephen Kaspar is one step closer to legalizing pet raccoons in Kansas after testifying before the state legislature last month.
Kaspar, of Lenexa, has been fascinated with raccoons since he made a papier-mâché version as a little boy. He carried it with him through the years until it was lost during his adulthood.
“Masked bandits, the hands… It’s always been one of those little creatures that I’m like, this is the coolest thing ever,” Kaspar said. “I want people to know they are not these disease aggressive balls of fur that run around your yard, that they are very smart, they are very affectionate.”
Kaspar and his wife, Holly, are empty nesters. For the last several years, Kaspar has been channeling his paternal instincts when caring for his backyard raccoons.
It all started when he left out some marshmallows for them to eat so his indoor cats had something to watch.
Now, every night between 9 p.m. and midnight, it has become routine for Kaspar to step outside. He brings the treats and the raccoons bring their appetite.
“I would caution people that want to just go out and start throwing marshmallows at raccoons. It doesn’t really work that way. There is a process — it’s about trust,” Kaspar explained.
That process and trust led Kaspar to the Kansas Legislature. He testified in support of House Bill 2297, which he co-wrote with Rep. Joe Seiwert in order to legalize pet raccoons in the state.
HB 2297 requires a permit from the Kansas Animal Health Commissioner. Owners must take an educational course on raccoon care, vaccinate their raccoons for rabies and consent to yearly inspections.
It also outlines the necessary fees so that the state would not immediately go in deficit by bringing this program to Kansas:
- For an initial application, $100
- For an annual permit renewal, $250
- For an initial facility inspection, $150
- For a follow-up inspection, $75 per additional inspection
- For a late renewal, $100
- For a permit transfer, $150
- If a permittee violates the provisions of this section, resulting in the seizure of the permittee's raccoon, a $1,000 fine shall be imposed to cover the costs of rehoming and providing care for the raccoon.
“My bill actually is not for wild raccoons, it’s for USDA bred raccoons,” Kaspar said. “I put these safe-guards in place that you had to jump through a lot of hoops.”
But Kathleen Savaiano with the Missouri Department of Conservation believes domestication of wild animals takes hundreds of years.
“It is not something that through the evolution of breeding, that you’re going to breed out the wildness,” Savaiano said. “They need certain requirements, being feeding and caging. They are destructive and strong.”
Ultimately, Savaiano said it is about ethics.
“They feel like they are caring for it, but really, they are being selfish. And they are not seeing the animal for [what] it truly is — that wild animal that has a purpose out in nature,” Savaiano said. “They can scavenge, they move things in nature, they are part of the food web.”
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment sent KSHB 41 a long statement outlining its concerns.
"Raccoons are wild animals, and even when reared in captivity, remain wild, not domesticated. These animals display unpredictable behavior and do not lose their natural instincts and behaviors when kept in captivity.
"Raccoons are rabies reservoir species. This means that the rabies virus naturally circulates in the raccoon population and has evolved with raccoons. Because of this, signs and symptoms of rabies in raccoons are variable, the disease process is variable, and some raccoons can even survive infection with rabies. All of this poses a substantial risk to humans, as rabies is nearly 100% fatal in human beings. A bite or a scratch by a raccoon, whether in the wild or in captivity, is a serious health risk that would require the raccoon to be euthanized and tested for rabies. If this testing does not take place, the person would be recommended to receive rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent rabies infection.
"Rabies PEP is serious financial burden and time commitment. The vaccine series is given on specific days over a period of two-four weeks (depending on individual immune response) and can have highly variable costs. An analysis by KDHE in 2019 found that the average cost of rabies PEP was $9,290 for the biologics alone, which does not take into account administration fees, hospital fees, and other healthcare provider charges.
"HB 2297 would have veterinarians immunize raccoons for rabies; however, there is no licensed rabies vaccine for commercial use in raccoons. The only available rabies vaccine for use in raccoons is an oral vaccine distributed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"Allowing these animals as pets would facilitate the legal movement of raccoons from different geographic areas in the US to Kansas, which could potentially introduce the raccoon rabies virus variant into Kansas. This is important because, currently, Kansas is free from raccoon variant rabies. History has shown that the translocation of raccoon populations facilitates the spread of rabies virus to naive populations at great cost to the local wildlife, domestic pets, and public health.
"Raccoons carry other zoonotic diseases, which are those diseases that can be transmitted between people and animals. One such example is the parasitic roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis. When these parasites infect humans, especially children, the consequences can be severe and lead to infections in the eye resulting in visual impairment, in the organs, or in the brain resulting in various neurologic complications. While treatments are available that might reduce serious disease, no treatments to date are totally effective at killing the parasite after it has infected a human.
"HB 2297 also mandates that raccoons kept as pets must have annual veterinary check-ups. As many veterinarians are not trained in handling wildlife, this poses a serious occupational health and safety risk to veterinarians and their staff."
Right now, HB 2297 is sitting in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. Technically, it is in limbo until the legislative adjournment in May.
“There’s so much misinformation from diseases and rabies and temperament, and it’s baffling to me how misunderstood they are,” Kaspar said. “I’ll keep going at it 'til we get it.”
—
KSHB 41 anchor/reporter JuYeon Kim covers agricultural issues and the fentanyl crisis. Share your story idea with JuYeon.
