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A North Dakota woman is facing charges after she showed up at a bar with a wild raccoon. The Benson County Sheriff's Office said it received a report that 38-year-old Erin Christensen brought the wild animal into the bar on September 6.
Officials launched an investigation and warned patrons at the bar that they may have been exposed to rabies. Investigators learned that Christensen was keeping the animal as a pet for roughly three weeks.
Christensen said her family found the raccoon on the side of the road and had been taking care of it. The raccoon was euthanized so it could be tested for rabies. The test came back negative.
Christensen told the Bismark Tribune that her family was devastated after officials took the raccoon and put it down.
"My children are devastated and inconsolable," she said. "They cried for hours yesterday. No good deed goes unpunished; clearly, that is a harsh lesson for young people to learn."
She was charged with misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement, tampering with physical evidence, and unlawful possession of a wild animal.