Owner of Euthanized Squirrel Promises 'Very Big' Lawsuit

The Instagram-famous pet squirrel euthanized in New York to test for rabies did not have the disease, environmental officers confirmed Tuesday as the squirrel's rescuer promised to sue. The state Department of Environmental Conservation said a rabies test was required after the squirrel named Peanut, adopted seven years ago after his mother was hit by a car, bit an environmental officer during his seizure from Mark Longo's home on Oct. 30, per NBC News. Peanut and a rescued raccoon named Fred were both euthanized. But neither Peanut nor Fred had rabies, Chemung County Executive Chris Moss said at a Tuesday press conference, where he displayed certificates to that effect.

There was such backlash to the killings that DEC staff received death threats, according to the union representing the officers. "I realize people want to vent. But at the end of the day I think you have to realize the seriousness of humans contracting rabies," Moss said. "This is protocol from the state turned down to the county." Longo wants to do more than vent. He intends to file a "very big" lawsuit in response to "government overreach," he told NewsNation on Tuesday. "These people don't have the stones to give me a call to say 'Hey, I killed your animals, also I cut their heads off, also Peanut doesn't have rabies,' like we all knew at the beginning of this story," said Longo, who runs an animal rescue.

Longo said he and his wife received wildlife rehabilitator licenses from the DEC in August, but were told the license did not allow them to keep animals long term, per USA Today. He said he was in the process of having Peanut registered as an educational animal, which would allow the squirrel to legally reside in his home, when investigators, acting on a reported four complaints over five days, took his pet away. "Not only did you violate my constitutional rights, you need to come up with an explanation as to why you murdered these animals," he told NewsNation, per NBC. "It was a 10-month investigation for a squirrel and a racoon. We have murderers and rapists running the streets and they didn't get investigations like this." (More New York stories.)