Peanut the Influencer Squirrel Euthanized by Speedy State

A squirrel with a huge social media following was taken into custody last week and euthanized by New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation. The DEC said it had received reports of “unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets.” 

The DEC also confiscated – and then killed – a raccoon named Fred.

The Instagram and Tik Tok star called Peanut — also spelled P’Nut or PNUT — was the face of a new animal sanctuary in Pine City, NY. Mark Longo, sanctuary founder and the human who rescued an injured Peanut seven years ago, is devastated by the loss of his boon companion. 

“It not only tears my family apart, but Peanut was the cornerstone of our nonprofit animal rescue,” Longo tells TMZ.  “Four departments and a judge signed off on a search warrant for a squirrel and a raccoon, and then they took them and killed them.”

The DEC tells it this way: “On Oct. 30, DEC seized a raccoon and squirrel sharing a residence with humans, creating the potential for human exposure to rabies. In addition, a person involved with the investigation was bitten by the squirrel. To test for rabies, both animals were euthanized,”  the DEC and the Chemung County Department of Health said in a statement. 

Longo says Peanut was orphaned when his mother was hit by a car in New York City over seven years ago. After eight months of care, Longo says he tried to release the squirrel into the wild but it returned to its benefactor, probably too accustomed to life on the inside — and free peanuts.

Soon after Longo posted videos of Peanut cavorting with his cat, and the squirrel began to attract a following – an audience of around three million across social media platforms. Longo says he was in the process of filing paperwork to get Peanut certified as an educational animal when the DEC took the little guy away. 

While it is probably a good idea to discourage people from harboring wildlife, authorities like the DEC need to exercise a little discretion. The critters couldn’t be isolated and observed?  Peanut was an ideal candidate to be designated as an educational animal – he had millions of followers online – a designation that would have saved his life and spared us the DEC’s overreach.

One New York State lawmaker, Jake Blumencranz, has already proposed legislation he calls “Peanut’s Law: Humane Animal Protection Act,” as announced on X. The assemblyman from Long Island’s proposal would amend existing environmental law, calling for a 72-hour waiting period before euthanizing any sanctuary animal in order to give owners time to respond, arrange veterinary care, and appeal.

We called the DEC to try to get some answers about Peanut and Fred, since there’s been no update on whether these poor creatures even had rabies. Didn’t get any. But we encourage you to contact the DEC’s Bureau of Public Outreach at 518-402-8044; email them at public@dec.ny.gov. 

Peanut is dead but the sanctuary he inspired P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary is home to about 300 animals, mostly horses, cows, domestic birds, and a few alpacas.