Pet squirrel taken away by New York state, may be euthanized

Excessive government control.
In New York, not that surprisingly.

A beloved pet squirrel with thousands of adoring fans on social media has been taken away by state officials and may be euthanized, according to its owner.

Peanut (or " P'Nut " ) the squirrel has over 500,000 followers on Instagram and is a beloved mascot of P'Nut's Freedom Farm, a 501c3 animal rescue based in New York state.

In a post shared on Instagram on October 30, his family shared "there's a special place in hell" for the people who called the New York Department of Conservation on little Peanut, now seven years old.

"The NY State DEC showed up to my house and took Peanut," reads the post. "He was TAKEN to the EUTHANIZED. I'm in shock, disbelief, and disgusted to the people who did this to, PNUT. For the last 7 years, Peanut has been my best friend. He's been the center of my world and many of yours for so long, I don’t know how to process this, emotionally."

Peanut was discovered by his family, Mark Longo, when he was five weeks old after his mother was hit by an oncoming vehicle. He was then lovingly nursed back to health and would not return to the wild when released.​

Peanut the pet squirrel taken away by New York state officials from adopted home, may be euthanized , by Jasmine Baehr, Fox News, October 31, 2024


I want to say squirrels are not stupid. I've seen a video of squirrel that rescued by a human during the winter. It had alopecia (loss of fur) and would not have been able to survive through the cold outside in that condition. The human nursed it back to health and then eventually released it outside. But the squirrel kept returning and visiting. At one point the squirrel even led the human to follow it up a tree (the human had to climb up with a ladder). The squirrel clearly wanted to show the human its new nest it built up in the tree, like the squirrel was proud.

 

Sounds like some loser was jealous someone else had a squirrel friend, and of course the state bureaucracy has to follow its own rules.

 

A judge actually signed a warrant for that? New York is unbelievable! With all the problems in that state they go after a guy and his squirrel. I wonder if the dude had a Trump sign in his yard.

 

sounds like the people at the DEC overreacted to me… I would guess the pet was killed already, but never know

 

or maybe he had a Harris yard sign and the Trump cult reported him, who knows, or just some jealous Karen watching his video

btw, most States have these laws, even Texas, not just a liberal State thing

https://squirrelenthusiast.com/can-you-have-a-pet-squirrel-in-texas/

"Is it Illegal to have a Keep A Pet Squirrel In Texas?
Yes, owning wildlife in Texas is illegal without the required authorization. Section 63 of the Texas Parks and Wildlife code lists gray squirrels, fox squirrels, and red squirrels, among other animals, as game animals."

 

To be fair, Texas has always been a little bit more totalitarian and authoritarian than the majority of other conservative states. The fact that it traditionally developed out of "The South" (and more specifically the "lower South") in terms of political culture, probably has something to do with it.

I think this sort of thing would be absurd if it were to happen in a state like Montana or Idaho.

In these states, I think the reason for these permits has to do with concerns that some people might start collecting large numbers of animals, and that these animal species might be somewhat rare and it could affect the ecosystem. And possible worries that these animals taken from the wild could harbor diseases. And then in some case animal welfare because maybe the owners will not know how to take care of the animals and provide them with a proper living space suitable to that animal's needs, since there is an idea many wild species of animals need more space.
But it seems like a stupid law to apply to common little animals like squirrels.

I think maybe those enforcing the law should look at the actual underlying reasons and motivations for those laws in the first place before automatically enforcing the law strictly according to its letter.

 

States you can have a pet squirrels

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/pet-squirrel-legal-states

 

Thank you, interesting to see.
(I suspect it may not be entirely accurate and may be a little more legally complicated than can easily be depicted on a map)

And it seems like that map may be a good litmus task (or part of one) for how much freedom people have in different states.

I'd imagine states like Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Delaware have fewer restrictions because they became very built-up big city areas much earlier in history, so do not really have so much wildlife areas. So nearly all of the squirrels people see live in city areas, and it's not really seen as "damaging to the ecosystem", when the ecosystem is not natural. Also smaller population states often tend to have fewer laws, simply based on the fact they are less likely to have thought up new laws.

 

My husband raised a baby squirrel when he was a kid..even when he let it outside to go free it would come back and visit. Didn't know it was illegal.

 

yep, and I would assume it matters how many Karen's report you, as I doubt they're out there looking for these lawbreakers

 

looks like they euthanized P'Nut, said they had to kill the pet to test for Rabies?

 

Apparently it is illegal for a squirrel to have a pet human and the penalty is death.

The people behind this should be sterilized to ensure they can't breed. They should also be kept in a facility where they cannot bother actual human beings anymore.

 

Just came across this story on the internet. One of the confiscaters was apparently bitten so they euthanized the squirrel to test it for rabies.

And they wonder why people hate the government so much.

I had a pet squirrel a couple of years ago but it set out on the back porch and a rather large cage while my ankle was broken and my girlfriend would feed it but she was not well enough to play with it as you had to have long sleeves on because those needle like claws would draw blood.

Well one day she went out to feed it and it bolted up a tree. Can't say as I blame her being cooped up like that and I think she was going into her first heat.

She never did come back but sometimes I think I see her but they all kind of look the same.... But as far as I'm concerned, every squirrel in my yard will forever more be chicky chicky !

 

I knew that West Virginia would be legal. Lol

 

I don't get it.

WV is not euthanizing harmless, trained squirrels. Yet you think WV is an LOL and not New York State?

This is the sort of pompousness that makes me hate city people. Sometimes I wish country people would turn off the food for a while, just to teach a lesson.

 

My mother was attacked bit and scratched by a crazy squirrel as she walked across campus to her job at a university. She was told not worry about rabies...that rabies from rodents are rare to nil.

 

What on earth are you talking about? West virginia is where I live when I stay in the US.

 

Maybe you should have been more clear about your LOL at the information that WV allows owning pet squirrels instead of blame me for misunderstanding its use.

 

And this was a pet squirrel that apparently spent most its time in the house.

One has to wonder what the person bit by the squirrel was doing to the squirrel. This is one of the things I despise about humanity...they do the dumbest things ever...then blame others and animals for the results. Sometimes they do it without even meaning malice. Other times though, it absolutely was the plan to provoke and otherwise make trouble so they could kill and sow misery.

 

It was probably a decision based on fearing liability...just in case..... surprised they have to kill an animal to test for rabies?

 

You're new here. It was a post for most of the regulars that would know that I work and live in West Virginia intermittently.

Now you know as well.

 

Well, it seems to me the important point is that you are positive about WV. Knowing that is what helps me understand.
the meaning of the LOL.

Now I know.

 

"They're killing the squirrels, they're killing the raccoons"

 

it's so funny how AI is so consistent at missing up fingers... wonder how long until they get good enough to do fingers

 

They still have not figured that out for some reason.



Rest in Power Peanut