Peanut the Squirrel, the social media star confiscated from its proprietor and euthanized to be examined for rabies, got here up detrimental for the lethal virus.
The revelation on Tuesday capped a “surreal” expertise for New York proprietor Mark Longo, who mentioned he misplaced his squirrel — and his pet raccoon, Fred — simply as he was submitting the requisite paperwork to make them authorized. He mentioned he knew they didn’t have rabies since he’d lived with Peanut for greater than seven years and Fred for 5 months.
“It’s no real big shocker to me,” Longo mentioned. “I’m not foaming at the mouth. I knew the test results were going to be negative.”
He blamed the New York authorities for the harmless animals’ deaths and mentioned he deliberate to take authorized motion.
The animals had been confiscated on Oct. 30 by the New York State Division of Environmental Conservation from Longo’s dwelling and animal sanctuary in Pine Metropolis, a rural group close to the border with Pennsylvania.
In the course of the investigation, Peanut allegedly bit a DEC employee, which led to each animals being euthanized for rabies testing.
Officers had seized the furballs after receiving complaints that wildlife was being saved illegally, and probably unsafely. Whereas company and county officers mentioned they’d adopted protocol, they’ve since been threatened for his or her actions.
Chemung County Government Chris Moss revealed the detrimental check outcomes throughout a press convention in regards to the county’s position within the animal story.
State legislation mandates licensing for anybody rehabilitating wildlife similar to squirrels, and stipulates that domesticated wild animals should be registered as instructional. Longo maintained he was in the midst of doing simply that when the animals have been seized.
