A Christmas Day police response to a disoriented, aggressive raccoon in a residential neighborhood has sparked outrage among residents and animal rights advocates, with reports emerging that officers used their vehicle to repeatedly run over the animal in view of bystanders, including children.
On December 25, 2025, Hopedale Police responded to multiple calls describing the raccoon as wobbling, erratic, and having reportedly attacked a person earlier that day — classic signs of potential rabies, according to public health officials.
In a densely populated area where discharging a firearm was deemed unsafe, officers chose what town leaders called “the safest available method” to euthanize the animal and eliminate the rabies risk. The body was then placed roadside for animal control pickup…