ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A lawyer's actions are under investigation after posting video on social media of him yelling at a raccoon to get off his boat and leaving the animal to struggle in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Tampa Bay Times reports the Florida Bar opened an investigation into Thomas Cope in mid-May following one launched earlier in the month by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
"Get off my f------ boat," yelled the man, presumably Cope, at the raccoon. "We're just going to have to push him off."
The man continues shouting at the animal while approaching it. In the last video, the raccoon is left paddling in the water, likely left to drown.
"So long, sucker," the man said.
Cope, a Clearwater lawyer, later apologized.
"The animal was running around the boat hissing and growling, making it impossible for me or my friend to drive the boat," Cope wrote, according to the Times. "Knowing raccoons can be rabid and unpredictable, the only realistic option we could think of in the moment was to get the raccoon off the boat."
The Times reports bar officials acknowledged opening an investigation but did not specify what rules Cope might have violated.
In a statement, the FWC said: "It is still too early to speculate as to what violations took place in this incident. However, the FWC would like to state that we believe these vile acts of animal cruelty have no place in our state or anywhere else."
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