Processing by Susan L.

  The Lord has seen fit to lead another animal my way. As I was shovelling the massive pile of ice and snow the plow had kicked up over the end of my driveway I noticed a racoon. The fact it was out in the middle of the day alarmed me. I watched it for a while as it wandered around the yard, occasionally falling on its side. These are not good signs. It was a young one, probably born this year, and severely underweight. It showed no fear of humans but was not aggressive in any way. It came when called. I got the attention of a neighbour and he came over. The racoon followed him to a source of food they leave out for the feral cats in the neighbourhood. I don't know if it ate anything or not.
  The racoon came back shortly and as he got closer, thanks to my farm experience, I noticed that not only was he in severe respiratory distress but he was blind in one eye. My first thought was that he had been a pet dump; that someone had raised him until he was big enough to "survive in the wild", something no creature raised by humans can do even if they are wild animals. I thought he might have pneumonia and was suffering from exposure.
  God has given me an opportunity to atone for the ferret earlier this year, a situation where I have felt I could have done more.
  I trapped this poor, sickly fellow in a big plastic bin using my snow shovel to steer him. Sick animals need to be handled carefully. Thanks Farm, for the knowledge of how to handle such a situation. I tossed in a blanket and have wrapped the bin in an old sleeping bag to try and make him more comfortable. I made a  few phone calls and got hold of a wild animal rescue organization.    
  Sadly, she told me it sounds like Canine Distemper, an illness that has been devastating the racoons in our area. He probably wasn't a pet dump after all but in his sickness he turned to any help, any kindness, he could find. There's nothing that can be done to cure him. All I can do now is wait for my local humane society to get in touch with me. He needs to be humanely and safely disposed of.
  Regardless of the outcome, this time I've done all I can. Thank You that You are a loving God; a God of second chances... and third... and fourth. Amen.
  "Then He said to them, "What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out?" Mat 12:11