So just found this out: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/internet-sensation-peanut-the-squirrel-euthanised-by-authorities/news-story/54d989dc5f5e72935391951a8d1a856a

"Peanut the Squirrel, of internet fame, has been euthanised after the pet was seized by US authorities in New York State earlier this week, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation."

The Squirrel was released once but was unable to survive out in the wild, so he took it in and used its fame to donate to multiple charities and animal organisations, he also had his own non-profit organisation.

To Test for rabies after complaints to the DEC were filed by multiple anonymous complaints, they euthanised both animals (the tests have not confirmed yes or no if they actually had rabies). He was planning to still release the Raccoon once it was fully recovered. The Squirrel was originally hit by a car and survived.

Such a tragedy, two innocent lives taken by people just on a power trip....

Wish people would stop illegally grabbing wildlife to keep as pets for social media clout. A raccoon kept as a pet would never be able to be released. It would either die slowly of starvation or end up euthanized for being a nuisance. It's sad that these animals ended up dead for tik tok.

regsmutt said:
Wish people would stop illegally grabbing wildlife to keep as pets for social media clout. A raccoon kept as a pet would never be able to be released. It would either die slowly of starvation or end up euthanized for being a nuisance. It's sad that these animals ended up dead for tik tok.

Thats not... They were injured animals being healed to go back out into the wild. You didn't do any research here. I even said it in my opening post - Peanut was hit by a car and was unable to return to the wild due to injuries, so he became a sensation to help wildlife sanctuaries returning the wildlife that can be returned though not for profit organisations.

This has nothing to do with "Grabbing wildlife". Fred was also injured, unless you think its better for injured wildlife to instead just be killed instead of healed and released?

casmin7~ said:
Thats not... They were injured animals being healed to go back out into the wild. You didn't do any research here. I even said it in my opening post - Peanut was hit by a car and was unable to return to the wild due to injuries, so he became a sensation to help wildlife sanctuaries returning the wildlife that can be returned though not for profit organisations.

This has nothing to do with "Grabbing wildlife". Fred was also injured, unless you think its better for injured wildlife to instead just be killed instead of healed and released?

This guy was not doing rehab. He was keeping them as pets. He tried to "release" the squirrel and it got mauled because that's what happens to wildlife kept as pets when they get released. The raccoon was also being treated as a pet which means that any attempt to release it would have failed. The guy was either lying about intending to release it or profoundly dumb.

People shouldn't grab wild animals and treat them as pets. I have much respect for real wildlife rehabbers, but they do not treat the animals as pets.

Regardless of whether their handler was in the wrong, the authorities are still leaving a sour taste in my mouth here. I can understand concern about rabies, but... was there any reason to believe that they were, in fact, rabid?

But I admit I may be incredibly biased here, though. I have had actual pets taken away from me by baseless complaints from vindictive neighbors. Not captured wild animals, ordinary domestic animals. And by blood still boils over the memory even almost a decade later. So I can't help but be pissed off by the idea of pets being taken away by the pigs, justified or not.

lendrimujina said:
Regardless of whether their handler was in the wrong, the authorities are still leaving a sour taste in my mouth here. I can understand concern about rabies, but... was there any reason to believe that they were, in fact, rabid?

But I admit I may be incredibly biased here, though. I have had actual pets taken away from me by baseless complaints from vindictive neighbors. Not captured wild animals, ordinary domestic animals. And by blood still boils over the memory even almost a decade later. So the idea of pets being taken away by the pigs can't help but piss me off.

So most wildlife species do not have an effective rabies vaccine. Rabies is also almost always fatal once symptoms show.
This combination means that any non-vaccinated animal that bites someone is treated as though it is potentially rabid with the person getting post-exposure treatment and the animal being tested.
The test for rabies requires brain and brain stem tissue. This unfortunately means that the only test for it requires euthanasia.

The animals in question bit when they were being confiscated. Being species without a rabies vaccine, they were treated as potentially rabid.

This outcome of wildlife confiscations is not unheard of, in part because the officers are often poorly trained. I've seen other cases of exotic pet owners getting more-or-less SWATted like this with this exact outcome. The online exotic pet community is fucking nasty and do this to each other.

Law enforcement shouldn't be able to be used as a tool in bullying, which is likely what happened.