Photo by Synapped

In 2010, the D.C. Council passed the Wildlife Protection Act, which requires that pest control companies operating in the city use non-lethal and humane methods to capture vermin. The law has been controversial—remember Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s claim that it would force D.C. rats to be relocated to the Old Dominion (even though mice and rats are exempted from the law)?—but it hasn’t yet been tested. Until now.

Two animal welfare groups are offering a reward of $1,500 for information surrounding the capture of a raccoon in Northwest D.C. they say violates the new law. The Washington Humane Society first discovered the case and put out a $1,000 reward, and fellow organization Born Free USA kicked in $500 today. The details of the case, according to a press release from Born Free USA:

According to WHS investigators, the raccoon, captured on April 7, 2012 in the 3800 block of Yuma Street NW, had to be euthanized after suffering in the trap for at least a week. The trap had stripped the animal’s front leg down to the bone. Like thousands of animals caught in traps across the country, the DC raccoon had attempted to chew off a leg in order to break free.

According to Adam Roberts, Executive Vice President of Born Free USA, “In 2010, DC banned the use of various lethal traps to catch most kinds of urban wildlife such as raccoons, possums and skunks and this is the first known case since the new law.”

“This trap was set in a widely populated neighborhood, which represents a major public safety risk. Family cats and dogs are often severely injured or killed as a result of traps set for wild animals by nuisance wildlife control operators or trappers who plan to capture them and strip their fur. Traps are not only a threat to animals, but also a public safety risk. Born Free USA is proud to join our colleagues at the Washington Humane Society to seek justice for this innocent animal who lost his life to this inhumane practice,” explains Roberts.

The 2010 law specifically prohibits “leghold and other body-gripping traps.” According to the Humane Society’s Scott Giacoppo, a violation of the law could be prosecuted as misdemeanor or felony animal cruelty, depending on how the U.S. Attorney for D.C. decides to proceed. Giacoppo said that while many of these cases are prosecuted as misdemeanors, they were hoping to see it charged as a felony, which carries a more substantial risk of prison and heavier fines—five years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine.

Investigators with the Humane Society, which was chartered by Congress in 1870 to enforce the city’s animal cruelty laws, are currently looking into the case.