The citizens of Toronto came together yesterday in a heartwarming show of solidarity over a dead raccoon.
The saga of Conrad the dead raccoon (as he was eventually dubbed by Twitter) began with a guy who works in downtown Toronto sending this tweet to animal control services just after 9 a.m. local time yesterday.
Authorities responded immediately, assuring Wagar that someone would be on their way soon.
But several hours later, with Conrad still left on the pavement, passers-by began to leave tokens of sympathy.
The memorial continued to grow throughout the afternoon.
https://instagram.com/p/48P1hkFeuq/?tagged=deadracoon
"After hours in the summer sun, the hashtag #DeadRacoonTO drew ever more mourners to the scene, despite the fact dead raccoons can possibly carry diseases such as rabies," CBC news reported.
But fearless Torontonians continued to pay tribute to Conrad, adding candles and a donation box by the time the sun went down.
At some point, a City Council member got involved.
Minneapolis offered help:
And finally, well after nightfall, a city animal control worker arrived to take Conrad to his final resting place (probably in a compost heap or trash pile somewhere).
Perhaps Toronto City Council member Norm Kelly said it best: