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Raccoon reportedly attacks baby inside North Philadelphia home

Animal control officers have not yet been able to find the raccoon.

A baby was attacked by a raccoon in her North Philadelphia on Wednesday. The homeowner told an animal control officer that the raccoon could have gotten in from outside, an AC&CT spokeswoman said Friday.
A baby was attacked by a raccoon in her North Philadelphia on Wednesday. The homeowner told an animal control officer that the raccoon could have gotten in from outside, an AC&CT spokeswoman said Friday.Read moreiStock

A 4-month-old baby is recovering from injuries she suffered when a raccoon reportedly attacked her inside a North Philadelphia home earlier this week.

The baby's mother, Ashley Rodgers, told 6abc that the animal dragged her daughter across a room in the family's first-floor apartment at 22nd and Diamond Streets around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Philadelphia police said officers responded to a call shortly before 11 p.m. and found the child had sustained "cuts and scratches to her face." She was then taken to Temple University Hospital in stable condition. The baby received more than 60 stitches, according to 6abc.

An animal control officer was sent to the property but was unable to find the raccoon, Animal Care and Control Team spokeswoman Ajeenah Amir said.

The homeowner told the officer that the animal could have gotten into the apartment from outside.

Officers "were out again throughout yesterday to fully assess the building and monitor the traps," Amir said in an email Friday. No raccoons had been caught as of Thursday night, she said.

"It's just ridiculous," Samuel Black, the baby's father, told CBS3. "My daughter could have lost her life."

A spokesperson for the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections told the news outlet that the homeowner did not have a rental license.