Raccoons break into Albany County Legislators home

ALBANY, N.Y. (WNYT/WHEC) — Representing the 6th district, Albany County Legislator Sam Fein normally fights for economic, social, and racial justice, but now he finds himself fighting off hungry raccoons sneaking into his home.

Fein says the little critters crept inside his home while he was enjoying some rest and relaxation at Lake George over the weekend. Its trip was quickly interrupted when one of his tenants called him about a strange noise coming from his apartment. “I have an indoor camera so I logged in on to my camera and I saw I have a raccoon in my house,” said.

The first time a raccoon entered his home, Fein said it came in through the backdoor. The second time, he says he had a cat door that wasn’t fully installed and he found three raccoons that made their way to his bedroom.

The real challenge was getting the raccoons out. “I used a broom and when they were in the house I put some boxes to kind of block off the path, so they could really only go one way out the door,” he said.

Not only were the raccoons eating his food and ravaging through his personal belongings, Fein jokes about them making a strong political statement. “I noticed they got into a cabinet that had a folded up American flag in it and they pooped on the American flag, so I just felt like the amount of waste we create in this country that they benefit from, they should be a little more grateful,” he said.

When the politician is not fighting with raccoons, he’s actually working on more important issues. “I represent a district where a lot of people are really struggling, he said. Recently there’s been a huge uptick in gun violence and it’s impacting a lot of families, children are not getting opportunities, and they’re not getting the education they deserve.

These are just a few of the issues Fein works so passionately on, while simultaneously trying to get rid of the raccoons.