Peanut, who has amassed more than half a million Instagram followers, was euthanized by officials to be tested for rabies.

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.

  • distantsounds@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I read the article and can’t believe someone could read the same thing and come away thinking, “this guys sucks.”

    • Cypher@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      You can’t believe people would be angry that someone illegally kept an animal an forced it to perform for his own profit?

      You must be really unfamiliar with the history of animals in circus performances.

      • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
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        1 month ago

        This would apply to anyone uploading a picture or video of their pet, no? All those pictures of sleeping cats today are coming from people forcing their pets to perform for their own profit. They even came up with a cute name to disguise this disgusting exploitation and indentured servitude: “caturday.”

        It makes me sick.

        • its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          He took an animal from the wild. Domesticated animals are different from wild animals. He was also still taking animals from the wild as seen by the most recent racoon he kept as a pet. Wild animals require licenses for a reason.