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The body of what police believed was a headless dog pulled from the Rideau River last weekend was, in fact, a not-headless raccoon, according to the Ottawa Humane Society.

Emergency services received a call Sunday afternoon from someone who had spotted what appeared to be a body in the river near 6071 James Bell Dr., in the Manotick area.

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Police quickly determined it was not a human, but said it was a headless dog. They recovered the body from the river and turned it over to the Humane Society.

A Humane Society veterinarian examined the body this week and found that it was actually a “badly decomposed raccoon,” spokeswoman Natalie Pona said Friday.

“The raccoon did have a head,” she said.

Pona said the Humane Society considers the matter closed.

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