Raccoon Mauls Toddler, Drags Her Out Of Bed In Philadelphia Home

A 4-month-old baby girl was attacked by a raccoon in a North Philadelphia apartment Wednesday, according to her family.

The girl, Jourini Black, was dragged from her bed by the animal when her mother Ashley Rodgers was in the bathroom, according to CBS Philadelphia and was lying on the floor bleeding when Rodgers found her.

“My daughter was laying on the bed sleeping and I went to take my son to the bathroom. We heard a sound upstairs and we see a raccoon run down the steps,” said Ashley Rodgers, the child’s mother. “When I finally got to her, she was laying on the floor so it had dragged her off the bed, across the room, and she was bleeding and crying and her whole face was red.”

Black’s pajamas and face were covered in blood after the attack, the family told Fox affiliate WTXF-TV. The baby was then taken to the hospital, where she needed 65 stitches and surgery.

She also received rabies shots. Reports said that Black was lucky that her eyes were not affected by the raccoon’s scratches but it could take a year for the baby to fully recover. In pictures released to local newspapers, Black was seen with claw marks on her face and forehead and a gash close to her eye. She was in recovery at St. Christopher’s Hospital.

Meanwhile, animal control officers responded to the scene on Thursday but were not able to say how the raccoon got into the home or if it had been caught, ABC News affiliate KTRK-TV stated. They also put out a trap to catch the raccoon so a similar incident would not happen again.

“It’s just ridiculous,” Samuel Black, the girl’s father, told CBS. “My daughter could have lost her life.” He also told WTXF: "I thought it was a nightmare when I heard over the phone. My heart dropped. I didn't know what to say, what to think.”

“What was he going to do?” the child's uncle, Kenny McDuffy, asked WPVI. “Eat her? Kill her?"

Rodgers said that she contacted her landlord after the first raccoon sighting earlier in the evening and received assurances the animal had been sent away.

The neighbors said raccoon sightings were common, especially due to the trash in the area. “It’s terrible around here with these raccoons, yes it is,” said one neighbor Barbara Butler.

Another neighbor named Donna Wilson said: "If you have holes outside or around your walls, I guess they can get in.”

WTXF also stated, citing city officials, that the home where the attack took place did not have a rental license. Rodgers said she started living in the home with her 6-year-old son and her 4-month old child just days before the attack. “It needs to be shut down,” Rodgers told CBS. “Everybody needs to leave out of there.”

The Department of Licenses and Inspections also planned to investigate to determine if the home is safe to live in, KTRF reported.