You may have heard the recent news regarding the murder of Internet sensation Peanut the Squirrel and fellow pet Fred the Raccoon at the hands of NYS officials. For those unfamiliar, a pet squirrel and raccoon were seized by the state after some woman from Texas (yes, Texas) who apparently had nothing better to do than cast misery upon people over a thousand miles away reported its owners for allegedly keeping the animals in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Both animals were then euthanized after the squirrel bit one of the henchmen sent to seize it after it bit him. Why would a minor bite require killing? To test for rabies.
That might sound like a reasonable course of action – to anyone too dumb to take ten seconds to Google whether squirrels can become infected with rabies, which as it turns out is extremely rare. No human has ever been infected by a squirrel bite, but that didn’t stop New York State from serving up justice by murdering an innocent, beloved pet. Nevermind that the raccoon did not bite anyone, and did not present any symptoms of rabies.
I don’t know what Peanut’s and Fred’s living conditions were like, but I do know that there’s no reason to kill an animal who spent the last seven years inside, making exposure to rabies impossible. The bitten henchman was never at risk, and would never have been bitten if he wasn’t blindly carrying out the State’s bidding.
This might seem like an unfortunate but isolated incident, but the implications of this massive government overreach are horrifying. Anyone can get anyone’s pet stolen, ripped from their loving family’s arms by unfeeling bureaucrats, and if that frightened pet should react to this by biting one of these strangers sent to abduct it, then it’s killed, in conditions I dare not imagine, far away from the people who loved and cared for it.
Is there nothing New York State will not strangle with its slimy tentacles? Are there any aspects of our lives free from Kathy Hochul’s Big Brother regime? In the Empire State, you don’t even have sovereignty over your own pets! They belong to the Empress, to be handled and disposed of as she pleases. You keep yours with her permission, and she commands you to pray she does not alter the deal any further.
That might seem extreme, but not to Mark Longo, Peanut’s and Fred’s owner, who is living this very reality. Today, it’s his squirrel. Tomorrow, it’s your dog who barks a little too much for your prickly neighbor’s liking. What are you going to do about it?
If you love your pets and you want justice for Peanut and Mr. Longo, then you can start by contacting your state legislators and the Governor’s Office and demand accountability for Peanut’s murder and action to ensure this completely avoidable tragedy never happens again.