In the United States, New York state authorities have euthanized a squirrel named Pinat, which was previously seized by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This was reported by NBC News, according to UNN.
Details
It is reported that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation took away Pinat the squirrel and Fred the raccoon after the agency learned that the animals “live with people, which creates a potential risk of human rabies infection.” According to the official version, the squirrel also bit one of the officials involved in the investigation.
According to the publication, Pinat lived with his owner, Mark Longo, for seven years. The man picked up the squirrel after seeing his mother hit by a car. He took care of the animal for eight months, after which he tried to set it free.
A day and a half later, Pinat returned to his porch with a broken tail, and it became clear that he would not be able to survive in the wild on his own. During his stay with the Longo family, the squirrel became an Instagram star, garnering 537,000 followers. The popularity came thanks to videos of the animal and its owner doing funny things together with their owner, who runs an animal shelter called P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary. For his part, Fred the raccoon appeared in the house quite recently.