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Earlier in October, the squirrel and a raccoon were taken away from their sanctuary home and were euthanised.
Peanut The Squirrel was quite popular on the internet. (Photo Credits: Instagram)
Peanut the Squirrel, the beloved social media sensation, has been tested rabies-free, weeks after it was confiscated by New York City officials and euthanised.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had seized Peanut along with a raccoon named Fred from Mark Longo’s home and animal sanctuary last month during a raid, citing multiple complaints of animals being held captive illegally. The officials even claimed that a DEC worker was bitten by the squirrel, thus requiring the agency to euthanise it to check for rabies.
While Longo denied the worker being bitten and insisted that his animals were rabies-free, the squirrel was ultimately seized and euthanised. This sparked a massive public outrage on social media platforms.
A few weeks after the incident, Chemung County Executive Chris Moss confirmed that the tests of both animals came negative. During a press conference, he spoke about the county’s actions and explained that it worked with the state protocols.
New York’s state laws allow only licenced wildlife rehabilitators to legally rescue squirrels and keep a domesticated wild animal after registering them as an educational animal. However, Longo, who claimed to be in the process of completing the process, said that he was ready with the paperwork when Peanut was seized.
As reported by the New York Post, Longo criticised the government’s actions, stating that the negative test results were not surprising for him. “It is not a real big shock to me, considering I lived with Peanut for seven-and-a-half years and Fred for five months. I’m not foaming at the mouth. I knew the test results were going to be negative,” he said, further sharing that the latest events had left him in utter shock.
The viral squirrel Peanut, which was quite popular on the internet, has thousands of followers on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms. His playful interaction with Longo and his wife along with other animals received a lot of love and engagement. However, things went the wrong way when officials descended on their sanctuary home last month, taking away Peanut and Fred.
The shocking death of the animals sparked an online backlash leading to outrage against the euthanasia of pet animals.
