6 events in Passaic County with a date

Peanut the squirrel euthanized after raid

It's illegal to keep wildlife as pets in many states

By: Jeanine Santucci
USA Today

..... Fans have been in an uproar since Internet sensation Peanut the squirrel was seized from his owner's home and euthanized by New York officials this week, [11/04/2024] over what they say was the unfair killing of a beloved family member.
..... Peanut and a raccoon named Fred were both taken Wednesday [10/30/2024] from Mark Longo's home in Pine City, in the south-central part of New York along the Pennsylvania border, after the county's helaht department and the New York Deportment of Environmental Conservation said in a statement they had received reports about "potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets."
..... Two days later, the two agencies announced the two animals were euthanized to test them for rabies, prompting outrage from the massive social media following Longo and Peanut had amassed. Longo's and Peanut's fans, and even a lawmaker, have decried the harshness and force with which they say a raid was conducted on the home and the decision to euthanize the animals with no recourse for their owner.
..... It's not legal to keep wildlife as pets in many parts of the country, but people illegally care for them in New York as long as they plan to release them back into the wild once they are well.
..... It's not clear whether Longo had gone through or begun the process of becoming a licensed wildlife rehabilitation, but he had also established a nonprofit called P'Nuts Freedom Farm animal Sanctuary.
..... The whole ordeal has the New York rehabilitation community on edge, said squirrel rehabilitator Rachel Tindal, who runs the Rochester-area Chip & Chloe Squirrel Rescue, named after the first two squirrels she took into her care. Tindal said she hopes the Peanut ordeal doesn't discourage other people from becoming license to do this important work.
..... "The whole way that it has been treated in this case has been every rehabber's worst nightmare," Tindal told USA Today. "we do this work because we love animals. ... We're not getting paid for this. We're giving up our time, we're giving up our sleep, our money to do this to save animals."

Peanut's early days

..... Longo first took in Peanut seven years ago when he found the squirrel as a baby. Longo saw peanut's mother get hit by a care and die, so Longo took Peanut in when he couldn't find a rescue organization that would take him. At first, it was meant to be temporary so that Peanut could go back to living outdoors when he was able, but Longo told USA Today in 2022 that Peanut didn't do well when he was released and got injured trying to live in nature, so Longo brought him back in.
..... Longo also took in other animals after establishing the nonprofit last year, [2023] Eighteen houses, one miniature horse, four cows three alpacas, one parrot, one pig and two geese call the sanctuary home, according to its website.
..... Logno told CBS New York that when DEC officials came to his home, officials sue excessive force in their search and when they took the squirrel and raccoon. He said the raid lasted several hours.
..... The officials said the squirrel it one of the investigators involved in the confiscation and both animals taken were later euthanized to test for rabies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a rabies test includes a "full cross-section of tissue form both the brain stem and cerebellum" and there are no approved methods to test animals for rabies while,they are still alive.
..... While raccoons are known vectors for rabies, squirrels rarely get rabies, according to the CDC. In fact no human has ever contracted rabies form a squirrel in the U.S., the D.C. Department of Health said.

What do state laws say?

..... It is illegal to keep squirrels as pets in many states. In some states, such as Idaho, certain species of squirrels are allowed to be kept as pets, but only in accordance with a strict permitting process.
..... In New York squirrels cannot be pets. If you find a squirrel or other animal that needs help in that state, you should find a license wildlife rehabilitator to take care of it and ultimately release it back into the wild, Tindal said.
..... Still, Tindal said lots of people end up keeping squirrels as pets " on the down low."
..... It's common for someone to come across an injured squirrel or similar animal and want to help, she said. Because licensed rehabilitators are all volunteers and don't receive state funding, it may be difficult to find one willing to take another squirrel. So, people end up keeping them and caring for the squirrels themselves, and usually, after a while, they realize squirrels are not suitable house pets.
..... Some squirrels fail at rehabilitation and are deemed unsuitable to go back into the wild because they have imprinted on the humans caring for them and never develop typical squirrel survival skill. But for a squirrel to become as affectionate and loving as Peanut is very rare, Tindal said.
..... "Pet squirrels are never a good idea," Tindal said. "They're very destructive, they've aggressive, they're very difficult to care for in captivity."
..... But in those rare cases, she said squirrels can develop strong connections with humans. They are intelligent and can problem solve; they have little attitudes and can be even more lovable than a cat or dog.
..... Florida is one of the few states that doesn't require a permit to have a squirrel as a pet, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. for that reason, Tindal said she's heard of people who uproot their whole lives to move to Florida to legally keep the squirrels that end up becoming like family members.
..... Raccoons may have even stricter regulations, because they are considered a vector species for rabies, meaning they have a higher likelihood of carrying and transmitting the disease. Even permitted wildlife rehabilitators must fulfill additional requirements to handle raccoons in New York and many other states.

..... Contributing: Greta Cross, USA Today.

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