Who has the right, me or the raccoon?

My back yard and deck have been invaded by a raccoon. He has destroyed a couple of my house plants on the porch, chewed up styrofoam all over the back yard, destroyed a broom with a metal handle, and left large tooth prints and a large manure pile with cherry pits behind the shed.

Now he goes to my neighbor's back yard. She has a fish pond and he is eating her fish and tearing up other things.

I called the Fish and Wildlife Department and was told it is "against the law to trap them, however when the cherries are gone he will leave." They failed to say that next year he will be back with his family.

I dog sit my son's little chihuahua while he works sometimes over night. I am afraid to take her out at night to go to the bathroom. He may kill her.

Ruth Sams, Lebanon