A raccoon that broke into an Ashland, Virginia liquor store, knocked 14 bottles off the shelves and drank from them has turned into an unlikely fundraising machine, with themed merchandise now topping $296,000 for the local animal shelter. Hanover County Animal Protection and Shelter chief Jeffrey Parker said the haul keeps growing nearly a year after the boozy break-in first made headlines.
From Liquor Store Mess to Viral Sensation
The raccoon was discovered in 2025 beside a toilet in the Ashland store, splayed out after drinking at least part of the liquor from the bottles it had broken, according to AL.com. A store manager found the animal in that state, and the bizarre scene quickly became the stuff of internet legend. Shelter workers nursed the raccoon back to health before releasing it into the wild, as reported by cleveland.com.
Once photographs of the incident circulated, the story took on a life of its own. The images went viral on social media, prompting a wave of jokes and memes, per LiveMint. The raccoon's notoriety even reached late-night television, with a Saturday Night Live skit airing in December 2025 that helped drive merchandise sales, according to the same cleveland.com account.
Merchandise Sales Keep Climbing
Seeing an opportunity, Bonfire.com, a company that creates personalized merchandise for fundraisers, offered to produce T-shirts, hats and mugs featuring a cartoon raccoon alongside the phrase 'Trashed Panda' and to share the proceeds with the shelter. The campaign's totals have climbed steadily since launch, moving from more than $180,000 reported in December 2025 to the latest figure disclosed this week. Parker said the merchandise had earned more than $296,000 for the shelter, the report's figure. The Washington Post, reporting on fundraising over the past year, put the total at more than $290,000.
Parker said he initially expected the fundraiser might only amuse people in the local community, and he was surprised by the nationwide response the campaign ultimately generated. He described the funds as phenomenal and said he was grateful for the support. To keep momentum going, the shelter has rolled out seasonal designs featuring the raccoon image, including Hot Trash Summer, Love Drunk for Valentine's Day, and Trick or Trashed for Halloween.
Where the Money Is Going
Parker said the fundraiser proceeds would be used to make things better for the animals and the staff. Part of that investment includes body cameras for animal protection officers, with donations from the merchandise covering about $39,000 of a five-year, $65,000 program, according to Axios. Officers are scheduled to begin wearing the cameras starting January 4, 2027, per 12 On Your Side. Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield already use body cameras for their own animal control operations, Axios reported.
Beyond the cameras, campaign funds are paying for new housing for animals, toys, a temperature-controlled food shed, and a community and pet pantry, 12 On Your Side reported. Bonfire's earlier campaign coverage noted that more than 1,000 of the raccoon-themed shirts sold within the first few hours of the launch, a sign of just how quickly the Trashed Panda brand caught on. What began as one raccoon's bad night in a liquor store has become a steady source of funding for a shelter that, by Parker's account, never expected the attention in the first place.
