Ben Avon couple charged for allegedly drowning baby raccoon

BEN AVON, Pa. — A couple from Ben Avon is facing charges after one of them allegedly drowned a baby raccoon.

Ohio Township police were dispatched to Forest Avenue on June 15 for a report of a dead raccoon that needed to be picked up.

The resident said a baby raccoon, that appeared to be rabid, came through the fence.

The call came in that the couple was worried the raccoon would bite one of their children, so the husband, Daniel Gallagher, scooped it up in a shovel and drowned it in a bin, according to the criminal complaint.

Christina Gallagher told police at the scene that the raccoon appeared to have an arched back, couldn’t walk and it wasn’t scared of them. It was also allegedly lethargic, the complaint said.

Neither Christina nor her husband called the police when the raccoon was initially found, court documents said.

Christina told police the raccoon was trying to leave the yard back to the fence, but they did not want it to leave, so they scooped it into a bin.

According to court documents, police at the scene asked Chirstina about the call coming in reporting the drowning. She said, “Well, we put the water in there because we wanted to make sure it was done.” Police asked if they drowned the raccoon, to which she said “Well, I guess, it seemed already dead.”

Drowning is considered inhume, regardless of the nature of the animal, the complaint said. Both Daniel and Christina Gallagher are facing an aggravated cruelty to animal charge.

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