Hamden woman attacked by raccoon she accidentally let into house, mistook for cat

HAMDEN >> In an incident eerily similar to an eyeglass-store commercial, an 88-year-old woman was attacked Sunday night by a raccoon she accidentally let into her home and then tried to pet, thinking it was her cat, according to police.

The woman was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital to be treated for several injuries. She had been released from the hospital by Monday morning, police said.

Officers responded at about 11 p.m. to a report of a wild animal attack at a home on Brinsmade Road, Capt. Ronald Smith said Monday in a press release.

Police found that the woman had been attacked after a raccoon followed her cat into her home through a sliding glass door. The woman had heard a scratching sound outside the door and opened it to let in her cat, Smith said. When the woman attempted to pet what she thought was her cat, the raccoon attacked her, biting her on the elbow, hand, forearm, lip and chin.

The woman was transported to the hospital by an American Medical Response ambulance.

The raccoon charged two officers when they arrived at the house, according to Smith. The raccoon was caught and euthanized “before it inflicted further damage,” Smith said.

The Hamden Animal Control Division transported the raccoon to the Connecticut Public Health Laboratory in Rocky Hill for rabies testing.

In a Sears Optical commercial first aired in 2009, a woman is seen outside of her home’s sliding glass door, calling for her cat. A raccoon follows her inside instead. The tagline for the commercial, created by adversting agency Sponge, is “Missing something?”

In February, the Boston Globe reported that a 73-year-old Hingham, Massachusetts, woman was attacked by a raccoon that entered her home through a door flap her cat used to get inside the house. The woman was treated for cuts and bite wounds, the Globe reported.