What began as a bizarre local headline quickly turned into something much bigger: a viral sensation, a beloved accidental mascot, and now, a surprisingly successful fundraising campaign for a struggling local animal shelter. Thanks to a cleverly marketed line of T-shirts featuring the infamous raccoon, Cedar Hollow Animal Haven is receiving more attention — and more donations — than it has in years.
This is the story of how one “drunk” raccoon went from ransacking a liquor store to becoming a symbol of community compassion and a strangely adorable ambassador for rescue animals everywhere.
The Break-In Heard ’Round the Town
On the night of December 14th, temperatures dropped into the single digits. Maple Grove Liquors manager, Tom Alvarez, assumed his biggest issue would be slow foot traffic. Instead, at dawn, he and assistant manager Becky Larson unlocked the shop and froze in disbelief.
“There were broken mini-bottles everywhere,” Larson said, recalling the moment with a mix of horror and amusement. “Little brandy bar bottles, schnapps, even two Cabernet half-pints. And right in the middle of this disaster was one extremely intoxicated raccoon, lying on his back like he had no regrets.”
Security footage later revealed how the raccoon managed the heist: slipping through an unsecured vent grate, knocking over a display of holiday sampler bottles, and then sampling as many as his tiny body could handle. The footage showed the raccoon wobbling, sniffing, and occasionally licking spilled liquid off the floor before curling up behind a cardboard display of peppermint vodka shooters.
By morning, he was sleeping soundly — and snoring.
Local authorities were called, and Cedar Hollow Wildlife Rescue, a small volunteer-run organization, arrived to retrieve the culprit.
“When we picked him up, he smelled like a college frat party,” laughed Jamie Porter, a wildlife technician who attended the call. “But he was otherwise healthy — dehydrated and definitely intoxicated, but okay. We monitored him for a few hours until he sobered up. Raccoons are shockingly resilient.”
Going Viral: The ‘Trashed Panda’ Takes Over the Internet
It didn’t take long for the story to explode online. Maple Grove Liquors posted a lighthearted photo of the raccoon being carried out in a blanket, along with a caption: “Not the customer we expected this season.” Within hours, the picture had thousands of shares, and national media outlets began picking up the story.
“He became an overnight celebrity,” Porter said. “People couldn’t get enough of him. Some were calling him a menace, others a hero. There were memes everywhere — raccoons wearing sunglasses, raccoons passed out on couches, fake motivational posters like ‘Party Hard, Nap Harder.’”
Soon the raccoon was unofficially renamed “Trashed Panda,” a joking twist on the internet’s affectionate nickname for raccoons: “trash pandas.”
But behind the humor, Cedar Hollow Wildlife Rescue noticed something interesting. Their organization — chronically underfunded and often overlooked — was suddenly receiving an influx of messages from people wanting updates on the raccoon, asking how they could help, and expressing interest in supporting wildlife rehabilitation.
“We thought: this is an opportunity,” said Porter. “A weird opportunity — but still an opportunity.”
A Shelter in Trouble
Cedar Hollow Animal Haven, the partner shelter to the wildlife rescue, had been struggling for months. Rising food costs, seasonal illnesses among dogs and cats, and declining donations left the staff worried about how they would get through winter. They had been planning a small fundraiser, but nothing substantial.
“When you run a shelter, you get used to making every dollar stretch,” said Shelter Director Marlene Ortiz. “But the past year had been especially tough. We had animals in need of medical care, heating bills, repairs… everything was piling up.”
After seeing the explosive reaction to the raccoon story, Ortiz met with the wildlife rescue team. What if they used the raccoon’s newfound fame to bring attention — and funding — to the shelter?
“I mean, we already had the memes,” Ortiz said. “It felt like the universe was telling us to do something.”
The idea was simple: create a line of T-shirts featuring the “Trashed Panda,” with proceeds going directly to animal care.
The T-Shirt That Started It All
Local graphic designer Leo Nguyen, known for quirky animal illustrations, volunteered to create the designs. Within a day, he produced several options: a cartoon raccoon wearing sunglasses and holding a miniature liquor bottle, a raccoon clinging to a wine bottle like a teddy bear, and perhaps the most popular design — the raccoon sprawled out on the floor with the caption:
“Trashed Panda: Didn’t Choose the Party Life. The Party Life Chose Him.”
The shirts were printed by Pine Needle Press, a nearby small-business printer. They launched an online shop and made a small batch of 200 shirts available.
They sold out in under three hours.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Ortiz said. “Orders were coming in from New York, Seattle, even Canada. Suddenly we had a fundraiser on our hands that was actually working.”
Within a week, additional merchandise was added: hoodies, tote bags, stickers, and even a limited-edition holiday ornament with the raccoon in a Santa hat.
And the raccoon? He was doing fine — released back into a forested area once he was completely recovered, unaware that he had become a marketing sensation.