P'nut saga: Squirrel decapitated because ‘he had rabies' was not actually infected
P'Nut the squirrel did not have rabies, tests show, after he was seized from his owners and decapitated.
The furry creature became a symbol of government overreach to supporters after being taken from an animal sanctuary in upstate New York and euthanised last month.
Authorities were concerned that P'Nut and Fred, a raccoon that was also seized, were infected with rabies after the squirrel bit an environmental official.
As animals generally need to be killed before a rabies test can be carried out, both were decapitated.
On Tuesday, Chris Moss, the Chemung County executive, said that both had tested negative for the disease.
'I realise people want to vent. But at the end of the day I think you have to realise the seriousness of humans contracting rabies,' said Mr Moss, displaying their health certificates.
'This is protocol from the state turned down to the county.'
P'Nut's owner, Mark Longo, has now pledged to launch legal action against the authorities for the death of his pet, a social media celebrity who was often pictured posing in a tiny cowboy hat to his 500,000 Instagram followers.
Although ownership of young wild animals is illegal in New York given the risk of disease, the incident has prompted widespread condemnation and national coverage.
'It was a 10-month investigation for a squirrel and a racoon. We have murderers and rapists running the streets and they didn't get investigations like this,' Mr Longo told Newsnation on Tuesday.
'These people don't have the stones to give me a call to say 'Hey, I killed your animals, also I cut their heads off, also P'Nut doesn't have rabies,' like we all knew at the beginning of this story.'
He added: 'We are filing a very big lawsuit. Not only did you violate my constitutional rights, you need to come up with an explanation as to why you murdered these animals.'
Peter Buzzetti, the local public health director, said authorities were concerned that Fred had passed on rabies to P'Nut, and that the tests were necessary no matter what the results were.
New York's environmental conservation department is conducting an internal investigation into its handling of the case.
Donald Trump's presidential campaign claimed that Kathy Hochul, the New York governor, had put more effort into 'finding and eliminating a squirrel' than controlling illegal immigration.
'I know Don is fired up about P'Nut the squirrel,' JD Vance, vice-president elect, said at a rally in North Carolina two days before the election.
Mr Longo, who had owned P'Nut for seven years, has previously suggested that his pet 'didn't die in vain' and 'played a part' in Mr Trump's election victory last week.
He had cared for the squirrel for eight months before attempting to release him into the wild, but adopted him permanently when he returned a day later with a broken tail.
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