NEW YORK — Peanut, the social media star squirrel who was the center of national furor after he was taken from his owner in upstate New York and euthanizedhas tested negative for rabies, a county official said Tuesday.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation took the squirrel and a raccoon named Fred from Mark Longo’s home and animal shelter in rural Pine City, near the Pennsylvania border, on Oct. 30. The agency said it had received complaints that wild animals were being kept illegally and possibly unsafely, but officials faced a barrage of criticism over the seizure. Government officials said they have since faced violent threats.
The DEC and Chemung County officials have said the squirrel and raccoon were euthanized so they could be tested for rabies after Peanut bit a DEC employee involved in the investigation.
Chemung County Executive Chris Moss said tests on the two animals came back negative during a news conference detailing the county’s role in the incident. He said the county was working with the state and following protocols.
In New York State, only licensed wildlife rehabilitators can legally rescue squirrels, and to legally own a domesticated wild animal, it must also be registered as an educational animal.
“We were ready to comply, we were ready to get the paperwork, we were working on that. We needed some guidance from the DEC,” Longo told CBS News New York earlier this month.
‘I knew the test results would be negative’
Peanut gained tens of thousands of followers on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms in the more than seven years since Longo took him in after seeing his mother hit by a car in New York City. Longo has said he was in the process of filing paperwork to have Peanut certified as an educational animal when he was seized.
Longo said Tuesday that the negative test results were not a surprise and criticized the government’s actions.
“It’s not a big shock to me as I lived with Peanut for seven and a half years and Fred for five months. I’m not foaming at the mouth,” he said. “I knew the test results would be negative.”
The DEC said in a prepared statement that there was an internal investigation and that they were reviewing internal policies and procedures.
