Peanut the Squirrel, a beloved social media star, has sadly been euthanized after being seized by the authorities in New York, leaving its family and fans devastated.
Peanut was a rescue squirrel who had lived with Mark Longo for seven years after a tragic beginning.
Longo initially encountered Peanut as a baby squirrel, left orphaned when his mother was struck by a car, per USA Today.
Unable to find a shelter willing to take the squirrel, Longo hand-fed Peanut for eight months before trying to release him back into the wild.
“I released him in the backyard, and a day and a half later, I found him sitting on my porch, missing half his tail,” Longo recounted in a 2022 interview with USA TODAY.
“So here I am, bawling my eyes out… I kind of opened the door, he ran inside and that was the last of Peanut’s wildlife career.”
Peanut became an integral part of Longo’s life, joining Longo and his cat, Chloe, in a peaceful coexistence for five years.
Last year, Longo established P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in Pine City, a nonprofit offering a “haven where neglected and homeless animals receive a second chance at life.”
According to the sanctuary’s website, it currently houses 18 horses, a mini horse, four cows, three alpacas, a parrot, a pig, and two geese.
Peanut became an Instagram sensation with over 534,000 followers.
Sadly, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Chemung County Department of Health confirmed in a joint statement that both a squirrel and a raccoon, seized from a residence on Wednesday, were euthanized for rabies testing.
The decision followed an incident in which a person involved in the seizure was bitten by a squirrel.
On Wednesday, DEC officers arrived at Longo’s residence and removed Peanut under state regulations concerning rabies risks.
The DEC and health department cited a longstanding presence of rabies in raccoons within New York's Southern Tier, including Pine City, as a key concern in the decision. “Rabies has been documented in raccoons in this area for more than 30 years,” the statement noted.
Over recent days, Longo posted updates on Peanut’s Instagram account, sharing his hope that Peanut might be returned.
Earlier on Friday, he had shared an emotional video, saying: “It has been a terrible nightmare for me.”
The incident has sparked significant public support for Longo.
In response, a Change.org petition and a GoFundMe campaign were launched, calling on authorities to “return him (Peanut) to his family.”
At the time of writing, over $95,000 has been raised by the GoFundMe page.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rabies testing requires euthanizing animals to extract tissue samples from the brain stem and cerebellum for lab analysis.
No approved methods currently exist to test live animals for rabies, making euthanasia the only means to confirm the disease.
The DEC and Chemung County Department of Health have advised anyone who had contact with Peanut or the confiscated raccoon to consult a physician regarding potential rabies exposure.
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