I told them since they mixed them up, and did not allow me to cage them by name; I could not identify each raccoon and know which area they came from.  They asked if they had been vaccinated.  I told them yes, the veterinarian had all of the records.  However, it was not a law that they had to be vaccinated, although all of them were vaccinated for parvo, distemper, and rabies.  They took the animals on that Friday the conservation officers positioned the animal carriers facing  one another so that each raccoon could see one another, and shot them through the top of the carriers so they could see eachother die.  They killed almost all of them. except for 2.   The 2 not shot were taken to the Mercer County Center and were there for a few months until the head of the nature center, Diane Nickerson killed them.  F&G told the media it was necessary to kill them because they were not vaccinated.

The courts had ordered a test of the raccoons to see if they had been vaccinated as the veterinary records showed, but F&G ordered them we killed before they could be tested.   I had been charged with illegal possession and the court went on for 8 years.  We eventually won the case.  The judge did not see a reason to kill the animals since there were records signed off by the doctor on the vaccinations.  The judge saw that it took so long that justice delayed was justice denied.  He saw no reason for the complaint in the first place so he dismissed it.

All of those raccoons died for nothing. They were physically and mentally tortured the last hours of their life by our NJ Fish & Game Officers.   The memory of what took place that day and the lengthy trial will remain a nightmare I will remember the rest of my life.

Bill Sleight

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