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.
The bite is the fault of the handler and not the inspector.
The inspector probably did get vaccinated, the animal almost certainly never has, but vaccine isn’t guaranteed to work so to know if they need to be held longer or receive an additional inoculation they need to take a sample from the animal.
Someone else mentioned the lack of PPE when going to handle Peanut, so that’s definitely a strike against the inspector.
But more to the point, why was Fred euthanized? He didn’t bite anyone!
Yeah fr the euthanization of Fred is definite grounds for lawsuit.
As for PPE, I feel like its possible the inspector was unaware of the location of Peanut or perhaps the handle created a situation where an attack was likely, given it roams his home in the videos and he isnt certified.
I could be wrong, though, maybe an inspector really was stupid enough to find the squirrel in a cage, open it, and try to yank it out.