Elon Musk fuming as internet sensation Peanut the Squirrel euthanised

3 November 2024, 23:32

Elon Musk called New York state ‘wrong’ after they confiscated and euthanised the famous squirrel, affectionately referred to as ‘PNut’ by fans.

The squirrel was put down alongside injured raccoon Fred by New York's Department Of Environmental Conservation (DEC) this week to test them for rabies.

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and owner of X, formerly Twitter, reacted to the incident in a series of posts to X.

He wrote: “The government should not be allowed to barge into your house and kill your pet! That’s messed up.

“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!?”

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In another post, he wrote: “Government overreach kidnapped an orphan squirrel and executed him.”

The squirrel was rescued by Mark Longo seven years ago, and had amassed over 500 thousand followers on Instagram before it was euthanised.

Longo would post photos and clips of Peanut wearing cowboy hats and doing tricks, like jumping through hoops, on its own Instagram account.

The DEC seized Peanut - as well as Fred the raccoon - from Mr Longo's home in Pine City on Wednesday following a number of anonymous complaints.

Musk, who has been a vocal advocate of former president Donald Trump in the runup to the US election on Tuesday, then claimed that “President Trump would save the squirrels."

One X user responded to one of Musk’s posts, asking: “What kind of person do these agencies employ? Who has it in them to murder a bloody pet squirrel?

Musk replied: “The government is a mindless and heartless killing machine.”

Mr Longo told the Associated Press this weekend: "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.

“They took them from my house and just killed them."

He added: "We will make a stance on how this government and New York state utilises their resources."

The DEC has not yet confirmed whether the pets had rabies.