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submitted 3 weeks ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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.

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[-] its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works 127 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Okay, I was initially totally against the DEC but reading the article really changed my mind. You need a license to own wild animals in NY. Ya know cause they should not be pets... also wildlife rehabilitation requires a license and training. Also rehabilitating means returning them to the wild. Not to mention an extra license and training for animals that are common carriers of rabies.

He has a squirrel for 7 years as a pet without a license with zero intention to rehabilitate his animals. He was using them to make money. Getting them to do tricks, wear hats and clothes. He essentially had a roadside zoo, but his customers were online. He says he was in the process of getting a license. He had the squirrel for 7 years, and was actively collecting more animals. This guy sucks, no wonder people were reporting him.

[-] lemonmelon@lemmy.world 62 points 3 weeks ago

Oh man I don't enjoy being that guy right now but for the love of all, It's CUSTOMERS. Costumers are people who work in dress-up.

I've only seen this in the past few years, but it's become such a common mistake. I don't understand it.

Sorry, I mean you're making a salient point about the lack of a license and all. Even so, if he's been caring for the squirrel domestically for seven years, where do they think the supposed rabies would have come from? It doesn't just manifest.

[-] MutilationWave@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

All these mistakes grind my gears, but this one is especially bad. Some of them make sense because of the way the word is pronounced.

Who is out there saying costumers instead of customers? Nobody says it like that.

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[-] Catoblepas 57 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I feel like I’m going nuts, is nobody on lemmy actually reading this article? This dude turbo sucked.

Longo brought Peanut him home, ultimately caring for the squirrel for eight months before trying to release it back into the wild. He said Peanut returned to his porch a day and a half later with a broken bone sticking out of its tail, at which point Longo determined Peanut couldn't survive in the wild alone and instead would move in with him.

Didn’t get him veterinary care though, because that would have resulted in his Cool Pet being taken away. What’s wrong with a little risk of sepsis and zero pain control for a serious injury if someone really, really wants to be a special boy??

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[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 40 points 3 weeks ago

A wildlife rehabilitator (Nessie) on TikTok pointed out that his squirrel and his raccoon would not have had access to veterinary care (ie, vaccination for rabies).

She also pointed out that showcasing wildlife in social media is currently unregulated - in person exhibitions requiring an expensive license to get. This is a bit of a loophole, and what that guy did is likely to get that loophole closed up, and impact sanctuaries that do operate within the current law while using social media platforms to fundraise.

Also, personally, the way he showcased the animals just seemed inappropriate - squirrels eating human food just seems problematic. Iirc he ran a domestic rescue, not a wildlife rescue, which is a different skill set. Wildlife rescuers avoid interacting with animals as much as possible. Animals aren’t toys and don’t have the same kinds of needs we do, and the fact they are cute shouldn’t complicate our emotions.

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[-] distantsounds@lemmy.world 24 points 3 weeks ago

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

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[-] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 102 points 3 weeks ago

The only charge is "potential to spread rabies" and they killed the animal to test for that (for some reason). So, if the test comes back negative, they will make full repariations right?

[-] SARGE@startrek.website 41 points 3 weeks ago

full repariations

And surely such reparations would take into account future lost revenue, as they would be expected to it this were a regular person against a corporation.

Surely.

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[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 32 points 3 weeks ago

It's because rabies infects the brains of animals, so that's the tissue that is tested.

I'm wondering why the people who were caring for the animals didn't just get them rabies shots in the first place.

[-] jerkface@lemmy.ca 27 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

I wonder why animal control officers who handle animals suspected of having rabies DON'T HAVE THEIR FUCKING RABIES VACCINATION. I needed a thousand dollar shot just to volunteer for a fucking animal shelter.

[-] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 24 points 3 weeks ago

to test for rabies, couldnt they have just observed the animal in some quarantine for the gestation period of the disease?

[-] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 22 points 3 weeks ago

They could have, but if the animal had already bitten a human, that extra few weeks' wait is dangerous.

[-] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 35 points 3 weeks ago

got it, this was pure animal control spite. they only claimed a bite after they seized the animal 'for testing'. their timeline is bullshit.

at least some good came of it

Longo and his wife moved to Upstate New York last year to start P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, which is named for his pet and officially opened in April 2023

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[-] rtxn@lemmy.world 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

These keyboard warriors don't understand how fucked up rabies can get. ~~Near~~ 100% fatal once the infected becomes symptomatic, and it's probably one of the worst disease-related deaths I can imagine. I'd rather take a cyanide pill.

I live near a forest where the fox population had to be culled because of the potential contact between humans or their pets and infected animals. There were billboards and television announcements that warned against approaching a wild animal that is acting friendly because it's an indicator of infection.

[-] Talaraine@fedia.io 35 points 3 weeks ago

These animals lived with their owner for years and were consistently photographed for Instagram. Yeah, people know how bad rabies is. They clearly didn't have it.

And officials are saying that no wildlife rehab service in the entire state of New York could take these two in? Internet famous, celebrity animals? Man, whoever believes that, I've got some land to sell ya.

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[-] jerkface@lemmy.ca 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

There is a prophylactic for rabies. The squirrel had to be destroyed because it bit a human whose job it was to work with animals suspected of having rabies. These people are already trading human well-being for the sake of the price of a slightly expensive shot. It's theater to suddenly pretend to give a shit about rabies after you've had one of your employees get bit.

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[-] its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works 17 points 3 weeks ago

No, rabies is an absolutely bizarre virus. The progression of the disease is highly variable. The person peanut bit could star displaying symptoms before peanut. Once symptoms show up, you are essentially dead. Rabies has one of the highest death rates of know human diseases. The only definitive way to test for rabies is testing brain tissue. The amount needed for a high confidence result is too much for the animal to survive. So the animal is always euthanized. That why having all pets that can be vaccinated, vaccinated is so important.

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[-] bane_killgrind@slrpnk.net 24 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Unfortunately rabies testing requires samples of the brain. This is why if you are bitten by an animal you suspect of having rabies, a professional should catch it and test the animal. The tests that exist for diagnosis in living humans are not reliable.

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/php/laboratories/diagnostic.html#:~:text=Rabies%20testing%20requires%20that%20the,after%20an%20animal%20is%20euthanized.

In this case I didn't open the story to see why they believed a domesticated squirrel needed to be tested.

Edit: somebody that didn't interact with the animals complained they might have rabies?

[-] Master@lemm.ee 20 points 3 weeks ago

No. Its illegal to own as a pet. Someone reported him for that. When they were collecting peanut he bit someone and That's why they put him down.

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[-] JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee 82 points 3 weeks ago

That guy sucks for keeping wild animals without the proper certification and training resulting in no medical care for the animals.

At the same time I'm also skeptical of how the state handled it because I feel it's important to remember that policies and how situations are handled can always use improvement.

For example, how did the investigator get bitten? Were they wearing proper protective gear and following procedure? Was he or she properly trained to detain animals like a squirrel? If the state is going to send people to confiscate wild animals a bite incident is a big fucking deal and there should be an internal investigation as to how that happened. For both the future safety of the employees and animals.

This whole situation sucks.

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[-] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 65 points 3 weeks ago
[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 47 points 3 weeks ago

TBH this really shouldn't radicalize you. This is what people are supposed to do when an animal bites somebody. The thing that was done incorrectly was creating a situation where an animal could bite a person.

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[-] Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world 57 points 3 weeks ago

Disgusting, FYI yes squirrels can carry rabies, but it is extremely, I say again EXTREMELY rare, and transmission to a human via a squirrel is even MORE rare than that. Typically rabies just outright kills small rodents such as squirrels

[-] its_prolly_fine@sh.itjust.works 16 points 3 weeks ago

It isn't that the virus outright kills them. They just typically don't get close enough to animals that could infect them. They are prey animals so they wouldn't approach infected animals, they would run. They are also very small so the initial bite or scratch that could infect them kills them before they actually develop the disease. But a squirrel living with a raccoon because some guy thought it was cute. Yea, that would do it

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[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 52 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The statement said one of the officials involved in the investigation into Peanut and Fred was bitten by the squirrel.

Sorry but they had no real choice on this one. Vaccines can and should be administered immediately to any human bitten by an animal in all cases, but vaccines are not foolproof and the animals must be tested. The only method to test for rabies is removal of brain tissue.

Just because a wild animal is docile to some humans or has its own social media account does not mean they are pets and they should never have been in this situation unless the property owner was a certified rescue and rehab.

[-] HurlingDurling@lemmy.world 37 points 3 weeks ago

The dude had started getting his certification seeing as the squirrel didn't want to return to nature and had become domesticated when the raid happened. The owner wanted to be in line with the law, but that apparently just put a giant flag on him. Also, do they have to conduct a surprise raid instead of just approaching the guy and attempting to be civil with him? I saw no information that a civil approach was taken.

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 15 points 3 weeks ago

The NBCNews article doesn't mention the word raid anywhere, it says inspection. If you know more about the story then your words are plausible but going by the article your account doesn't match. The owner waited 7 years to try for certification, supposedly.

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[-] buttfarts@lemy.lol 14 points 3 weeks ago

I don't think the government needed to get involved. If this guy was hoarding animals then okay. He had a squirrel and the gov't killed it? Thank you gov't I really feel safer now knowing you killed this guy's squirrel.

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

He had two wild animals, the first one for at least 7 years, and was making income from them without ever getting certification to house them. These rules exist to protect people and animals from harm.

The Guv'ment doesn't just break in and trash the place, kill the animals, for shits and giggles. I'm sure they would much rather be somewhere else far away from this shitshow. Blaming the inspector is victim blaming.

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[-] Mac@mander.xyz 50 points 3 weeks ago

Wild squirrels are not legal pets in NY—not that the legality necessitates this cruel outcome.

[-] NENathaniel@lemmy.ca 39 points 3 weeks ago

What a depressing story

[-] ZeroTHM@lemmy.world 32 points 3 weeks ago

Ridiculous and wholly unnecessary government overreach. Every official that touched this should be fired and publicly dragged through the mud.

[-] Emmie@lemm.ee 23 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

My squirrel moment. Kill these heartless bureaucratic fuckers. It is a human filth that doesn’t belong to the civilised world

[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 24 points 3 weeks ago

Unfortunately the animal bit a person, so they had no real choice in the matter. There is no reliable way to test for rabies without killing the animal, and vaccines are not guaranteed to prevent spreading infection.

[-] KyuubiNoKitsune 24 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

This is such fucking bullshit, so you corner an animal, it bites you, then you shoot the animal because it bit you?

I hope you never own or work with animals.

[-] Soulg@sh.itjust.works 31 points 3 weeks ago

Do you fucking know what rabies is

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[-] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

No, you surgically remove the animal's brain tissue to test for rabies and ascertain whether more serious treatment is required for the bitten. It should also be noted that the animals were never vaccinated themselves, because even if a provider were in the area the man with the animals was never certified as a rescue and rehab after seven years.

Handing over the animals safely and with minimal harm would be the handlers responsibility, the inspector being bitten is the fault of the handler.

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[-] RVGamer06@sh.itjust.works 21 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

It would be a shame if 4chan somehow found out who reported the guy. And decided to serve justice "their own way" =)

(i know i'm risking my account but it's worth it just this once)

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[-] RangerJosie@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago

Harambe 2.0

We just jumped timelines again.

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[-] CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml 20 points 3 weeks ago

After reading the whole thing, this is heartbreaking

[-] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 15 points 3 weeks ago

Bureaucracy saves the day! /s

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[-] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 14 points 3 weeks ago
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[-] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago

Oops! They didn't have rabies! Here you go! They're in the bag.

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this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2024
416 points (100.0% liked)

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