Is it legal to have a pet squirrel? Beloved Peanut the squirrel euthanized in New York

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, over what they say was the unfair killing of a beloved family member.

Peanut and a raccoon named Fred were both taken Wednesday from Mark Longo's home in Pine City, in the south-central part of New York along the Pennsylvania border, after the county's health department and the New York Department 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 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 licensed as wildlife rehabilitators can legally 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 rehabilitator, 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 care. Tindal said she hopes the Peanut ordeal doesn't discourage other people from becoming licensed 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."

The early days of Peanut the squirrel

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 car 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 outdoors, so Longo brought him back in.

Longo also took in other animals after establishing the nonprofit last year. Eighteen horses, one miniature horse, four cows, three alpacas, one parrot, one pig and two geese call the sanctuary home, according to its website.

Longo told CBS New York that when DEC officials came to his home, officials used 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 bit 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 from 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, a human has never contracted rabies from a squirrel in the U.S., the D.C. Department of Health said.

Is it legal to keep squirrels and other wildlife as pets?

It is illegal to keep squirrels as pets in many states. In some states, like Idaho, certain species of squirrels are allowed to be kept as pets, but only if you follow a strict permitting process.

In New York, where Longo and Tindal, from the squirrel rescue, live, squirrels and cannot be pets. If you find a squirrel or other animal that needs help in that state, you should find a licensed 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 skills. 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're 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; 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 rabies. Even permitted wildlife rehabilitators must fulfill additional requirements to handle raccoons in New York and many other states.

How to become a wildlife rehabilitator

The process to legally take care of certain kinds of restricted wildlife varies by state, but virtually everyone who wants to help rehabilitate a squirrel or similar animal in the U.S. needs a permit from their state and possibly the federal government.

In New York, wildlife rehabilitators need a license to take in squirrels that need help. They can only be kept for a few months before they have to be reintroduced to the wild, Tindal said.

"We are all very much instructed when we get our wildlife rehabilitation licenses that under no circumstances does it permit us to keep wildlife as a pet," she said.

If the squirrel has persistent medical or behavioral issues that make it "nonreleasable," they might either be euthanized or continue to live in captivity – but the rehabilitator has to undertake a much more intensive process to keep a nonreleasable animal.

Tindal said she's going through that extra process now to continue taking care of Cole, a squirrel with medical issues that stunted his growth. Cole never developed squirrel behaviors like aggression toward humans, she said.

To keep a squirrel for longer, a rehabilitator has to apply for a permit through the federal government, and those officials send investigators to check out the living environment for the animal and ascertain that it is safe. Caretakers are required to get regular veterinary care for the animal, and a vet must write a letter explaining why the animal is nonreleasable. In New York, the rehabilitator then must apply for another special state license.

The whole process can take a long time, Tindal said. "It's quite a daunting process to go through all the paperwork, and then I can see where someone would be intimidated by that or even afraid because once you start the application process, they're aware that you have this animal."

"We were ready to comply. We were ready to complete the paperwork. We were in the process of doing that," Longo told CBS New York. "We needed a little bit of guidance from the DEC."

Contributing: Greta Cross, USA TODAY