Drunk raccoon helps raise $290,000 for Virginia animal shelter

A raccoon that broke into a Virginia liquor store last year, sampled 14 bottles of alcohol and passed out in the bathroom has helped raise more than $290,000 for a local animal shelter through merchandise inspired by its drunken escapade.Nearly a year after the drunken escapade went viral, the Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter has raised thousands of dollars by selling merchandise inspired by the raccoon’s antics, The Washington Post reported.How a drunk raccoon became an unlikely face of a fundraiserWhat are the odds of a raccoon that wrecked an Ashland, Virginia, liquor store last November becoming the face of a fundraiser for the Hanover County shelter? Apparently, not zero.

The unlikely mascot has helped the shelter raise more than $290,000 through merchandise featuring its likeness and the slogan "Trashed Panda". It is the same shelter that took in the raccoon after it was found passed out in the store.“We never thought a raccoon would do this for us,” Jeffrey Parker, Hanover County’s chief of animal protection, told the outlet.