Everyone knows Thanksgiving Eve is considered the biggest drinking night of the year, but one furry friend over indulged and went viral.
The incident happened at a liquor store in Ashland, Virginia, two days after Thanksgiving. Employees arrived to find ransacked shelves, broken bottles and a raccoon stretched out on the bathroom floor.
“He fell through one of the ceiling tiles and went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything,” said Samantha Martin, a local animal control officer. She later said the masked bandit destroyed 14 bottles of alcohol, including rum, scotch, whiskey, vodka, moonshine and eggnog.
Obviously, a photo was snapped.
That photo spread throughout social media, becoming national news. A “trashed panda” even made an appearance on a Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.
Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter responded with an ingenious fundraising idea: “Trashed Panda” merchandise. The collection includes T-shirts, hoodies, stickers and tumblers, all featuring the intoxicated raccoon next to a spilled bottle.
The merch is so popular that sales reached $170,000 in the first three days alone. The figure is now more than $250,000. Proceeds from the campaign directly support the shelter.
As for the raccoon? He’s under suspicion for other crimes.
“Supposedly, this is the third break-in he’s had. He was in the karate studio – I think he got into the DMV (and) ate some of their snacks one time,” Martin said.
