The Daily Populous Saturday November 2nd, 2024 evening edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by temchik

Peanut, the Instagram-famous squirrel that was seized from its owner's home Wednesday, has been euthanized by New York state officials.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation took Peanut, as well as a raccoon named Fred, on Wednesday after the agency learned the animals were “sharing a residence with humans, creating the potential for human exposure to rabies," it said in a joint statement with the Chemung County Department of Health.

Both Peanut and Fred were euthanized to test for rabies, the statement said. It was unclear when the animals were euthanized.

The statement said one of the officials involved in the investigation into Peanut and Fred was bitten by the squirrel.

Peanut was seized by officers from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, at Longo's home in rural Pine City, N.Y., on Oct. 30. Courtesy Mark Longo via AP

Officials are "coordinating to ensure the protection of public health related to the illegal possession of wild animals that have the potential to carry the rabies virus," according to the statement, which also encouraged anyone who has been in contact with the animals to talk to their doctor.

It is illegal to keep young wildlife as pets, according to the DEC.

Peanut had been living with owner Mark Longo for seven years, since Longo said he saw Peanut's mother get hit by a car in New York City.

Longo brought Peanut him home, ultimately caring for the squirrel for eight months before trying to release it back into the wild. He said Peanut returned to his porch a day and a half later with a broken bone sticking out of its tail, at which point Longo determined Peanut couldn't survive in the wild alone and instead would move in with him.

Since then, Peanut has won over the internet's hearts, amassing 537,000 followers on his Instagram page run by Longo. Videos on the page show Peanut snacking on waffles and welcoming Longo home when he walks through the front door.

Fred, the raccoon, was a more recent addition to Longo's home.

In a tearful video posted to Peanut's Instagram account Friday, Longo held a portrait of his pet and thanked followers for their support.

"Peanut was the best thing that ever happened to us," Longo said through tears. "I want to continue to fight this fight as much as I can but we need all of you to come together and help us."

The caption of the video reads: "RIP MY BEST FRIEND. Thank you for the best 7 years of my life. Thank you for bringing so much joy to us and the world. I’m sorry I failed you but thank you for everything."

Multiple anonymous complaints led DEC officers to Longo's house in Pine County, New York, on Wednesday, prompting Longo to plead for his pet's release.

"Well internet, you WON. You took one of the most amazing animals away from me because of your selfishness. To the group of people who called DEC, there’s a special place in hell for you," Longo wrote on Peanut's Instagram Wednesday.

Longo and his wife moved to Upstate New York last year to start P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, which is named for his pet and officially opened in April 2023. The sanctuary houses more than 350 rescues and has been relying "heavily" on donations from Peanut's online followers to help more animals, Longo said in the Instagram post Wednesday.

Longo asked followers Friday to help by donating money to the “ongoing legal battles” and to their nonprofit “so we can keep Peanut’s name alive.”

jad4400 on November 2nd, 2024 at 11:14 UTC »

I've read the article and a few others, and I need some sources for the timeline of this to corroborate what folks have been saying in the comments.

The dude who owned the squirrel found it about 7 years ago and tried to rehab and release it, but it ended up already being habituated to humans and stayed since it lacked survival skills

The couple started up their animal sanctuary last year in the town where this took place.

The raid happened Oct 30th and the squirrel was euthanized shortly afterwards due to biting someone during the raid (which was 6 Department of Environmental Conservation) officers.

Question 1. A bunch of comments have been saying the guy had years to get the permits for the squirrel and had multiple warnings over said years to get them but didn't. So far, none of the articles I've read mentioned this, so did he have multiple notices and warnings over the years? Most mentioned he was in the process of filing the paperwork when the raid happened, but nothing is said about warnings or notices.

Question 2. What exactly is the timeline for when the paperwork was being filed to when the raid happened? The guy who owned the squirrel makes it sound like he'd been working to try and get the right forms done but was having problems and the DEC was dragging their heels. However, considering the sanctuary only got started last year, is that when he started working the forms, or was it only more recently when they stated getting more publicity?

Question 3. Was the DEC just there for the squirrel and raccoon (the other animal taken), or were they there for a broader inspection and search? On top of that what is the normal protocol for an inspection like this?

Question 4. Was it just the paperwork for the squirrel that wasn't there, or were there more permitting errors on top of that? The DEC in the article mentioned the confiscation/inspection/raid came because of anonymous concerns sent to the office, but unless this guy literally had no paperwork filed with the state, I can't imagine the DEC wasn't aware of his operations. So did he file the right paperwork to make an animal sanctuary in the way he wanted it with the exotic animals in mind (while they are common wildlife, squirrels and raccoons are classified as exotic pets) or did he file more basic paperwork for starting an animal sanctuary and neglected to mention the exotic animals?

So far, again the sources are only giving the wavetops of this case and in something like this where a cute animal was euthanized folks are acting pretty emotionally charged on the comments.

edited for a couple of mispellings and the 4th question.

ResplendentCathar on November 2nd, 2024 at 04:00 UTC »

Why would they kill it

YourFinestPotions on November 2nd, 2024 at 03:48 UTC »

Great, this just caused a nexus event, 8 years after the Harambe incident occurred.