Excessive-profile conservatives and Donald Trump supporters—together with Elon Musk—have galvanized across the loss of life of an internet-famous squirrel following New York state authorities’ resolution to euthanize the animal, utilizing the incident as an argument for presidency overreach at some point earlier than the U.S. presidential election.
The New York State Division of Environmental Conservation on Wednesday seized and euthanized Peanut the squirrel from the house of content material creator Mark Longo, who lives and operates an animal sanctuary in Pine Metropolis, N.Y. Longo runs a Peanut the squirrel Instagram account with over 695,000 followers, which featured the animal performing tips.
The squirrel’s loss of life has rallied conservative forces, from Donald Trump to Republicans on the Home Judiciary Committee, to Musk, who’ve lambasted the DEC’s actions. Over the weekend, Musk posted on X a number of instances concerning the incident, calling the DEC’s intervention a type of “government overreach.”
“The government should not be allowed to barge into your house and kill your pet! That’s messed up,” Musk mentioned in an X submit Saturday. “Even if it is illegal to have a pet squirrel (which it shouldn’t be), why kill PNut instead of simply releasing him into the forest!?”
Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance mentioned on Sunday at a rally in Sanford, N.C., that operating mate Trump was “fired up” concerning the squirrel’s loss of life. Republicans have beforehand tried to invoke sympathy for animals as a rallying cry in opposition to the federal government, spreading the false story that Haitian immigrants in Ohio eat canines and cats.
“The same government that doesn’t care about hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant criminals coming into our country, doesn’t want us to have pets,” Vance mentioned. “It’s the craziest thing.”
Conservatives coalescing round Peanut comes days earlier than an election with no clear predicted winner and indications that Trump is dropping steam. Polling final week confirmed Trump eking forward of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, however a current ballot in Iowa now offers Harris the slight edge within the usually crimson state. Prediction markets traditionally favoring Trump to win the election have adopted the same change and now favor Harris. Reality Social mum or dad Trump Media and Expertise Group, which is taken into account a barometer of his probabilities of reelection, plummeted 41% over three days final week, wiping out $2.4 billion of Trump’s wealth.
The squirrel’s loss of life has additionally impressed the launch of Peanut-themed cryptocurrencies, together with the Solana-based Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) memecoin, which soared to a market capitalization of greater than $140 million final weekend.
What occurred to Peanut?
The state DEC took Peanut and a raccoon named Fred from Longo’s dwelling Wednesday following complaints that the animals have been being probably stored unsafely and illegally. The DEC and Chemung County Division of Well being mentioned in a press release to CBS Information the 2 animals have been seized and euthanized in an effort to check for rabies. The squirrel bit one of many people concerned within the investigation, in response to the assertion. The DEC didn’t reply to Fortune’s request for remark.
New York state legal guidelines mandate a license for these desirous to personal a wild animal. Longo discovered Peanut seven years in the past after the squirrel’s mom was hit by a automobile.
“Honestly, this still kind of feels surreal, that the state that I live in actually targeted me and took two of the most beloved animals on this planet away, didn’t even quarantine them,” Longo advised the Related Press. “They took them from my house and just killed them.”
The affirmation of Peanut’s loss of life resulted in an outpouring of help for Longo and his spouse, who in April 2023 based P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in April 2023. A GoFundMe raised greater than $160,000 to help the sanctuary.
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