SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Attacked by raccoons! A Scottsdale couple was met by a family of five animals inside their home. The husband and wife say they were both bitten and had to go to the hospital.
"Oh, hey! Hey! It’s like you're having a whole family meeting in my house,” said Lindsey Abbruzese in the video recording of the event at their home near 94th Street and Thunderbird Road. “Can you not *expletive* up my shoes?"
The attack was scary, the couple says, and that led ABC15 to a big question: How did the animals make it inside?
"We now have it blocked, but there is the dog door. So, they came in from our backyard,” added Abbruzese.
As for Abbruzese and her husband Craig Tiensvold’s two dogs, the little pups were reportedly barking a few hours before the raccoon attack.
So, she and her husband looked around.
"I was like guys, there is nothing in here because there are just shoes. So, I turned on the lights and did not see anything, so I looked behind the door,” added Abbruzese.
She says two raccoons were in the dogs' bag of food. One bit her finger after she tried to pull her dog out of the room.
"It was just a huge shock. I am just happy my animals didn't get hurt, my kids didn't get hurt, and if it had to be anybody, at least it was just us,” added Abbruzese.
She and her husband spent two nights in the hospital. Doctors performed one surgery on each of them.
"I wanted to let people know if you see them, make sure you cover your dog door and when you see them, don't approach whatsoever. They are not cute like those little TikTok videos,” added Abbruzese.
Both were bitten and received rabies shots.
"I go to open the door, look in, and am like... there is one. Oh, there are four more! So, I kind of back out and close the door,” added Tiensvold.
Hours later, he tried getting them out and into a cage.
"So, I put pants on, boots on, gloves on, and a thick jacket on,” added Tiensvold. “She just bit. It just went through the glove and into the top of my finger. It got all the way down into the bone."
Arizona Game and Fish tells ABC15 that the department is aware of what happened and is looking into the attack.
The couple says their two-night hospital stay has been a costly encounter, but are sharing their warning about the price you might not think of. The couple needs a bio-hazard cleanup of the mess left behind. The estimates, they say, run around $2,000.
