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January 7, 2014 1:00 am - NewsBehavingBadly.com

cloudy-with-a-chance-of-raccoonsWe suppose this is one way to try to get your pet raccoon back:

Viral Internet star Mark ‘Coonrippy’ Brown, 55, is entering Tennessee’s governor race in an effort to get his pet raccoon back.

Brown’s pet raccoon Rebekah was seized by authorities last year.

Videos of him showering and dancing with the raccoon had gone viral on YouTube.

The Gallatin News Examiner reports that Brown feels his best chance to get Rebekah back is to challenge incumbent Gov. Bill Haslam in the Republican primary in August.

Raw Story has more details on the candidate:

Mark “Coonrippy” Brown, a licensed firearm dealer, told The Tennessean that his bid for office was “all about the raccoon.”

Videos of the 56 year old showering and dancing with his pet raccoon, Rebekah, have gone viral over the last year.

But in August, Rebekah was accused of attacking chickens at a local high school and was seized the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Brown has been fighting for her ever since, even being featured on CNN host Anderson Cooper’s RidicuList.

According to Brown, Republican Gov. Bill Haslam refused to accept his petition — with over 60,000 signatures — asking for a permit to keep Rebekah.

“Gov. Haslam ignored the cries from the entire United States,” he explained. “He can free prisoners, he can pardon people, but he refused the online petition and refused to accept the letter… All eyes were on Tennessee and it made us look bad. It made it look like we were under Caesar’s law.”

Say what you may about Brown — but his raccoon Gunshow pretty clearly loves him:

D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.