Peanut, who has amassed more than half a million Instagram followers, was euthanized by officials to be tested for rabies.
Peanut, the Instagram-famous squirrel that was seized from its owner’s home Wednesday, has been euthanized by New York state officials.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation took Peanut, as well as a raccoon named Fred, on Wednesday after the agency learned the animals were “sharing a residence with humans, creating the potential for human exposure to rabies," it said in a joint statement with the Chemung County Department of Health.
Both Peanut and Fred were euthanized to test for rabies, the statement said. It was unclear when the animals were euthanized.
It’s because rabies infects the brains of animals, so that’s the tissue that is tested.
I’m wondering why the people who were caring for the animals didn’t just get them rabies shots in the first place.
Since keeping the squirrel was stupidly illegal, he couldn’t get a rabies shot for it at a vet.
I wonder why animal control officers who handle animals suspected of having rabies DON’T HAVE THEIR FUCKING RABIES VACCINATION. I needed a thousand dollar shot just to volunteer for a fucking animal shelter.
Rabies vaccine is only made for a handful of animals. For example a vaccine is made for domestic sheep but not for domestic goats. Goats and sheep are closely enough related that goats owners have their animals vaccinated using the sheep vaccinations but since they have not been officially tested, you can’t say the animals have been vaccinated for rabies in a legal capacity so the petting zoo has a big sign about the rabies risk in goats.
I think this is mostly a case on NY state’s sick of people ignoring their wild animal laws and with NYC especially they can’t allow for people to just keep whatever animal they want and think it’s okay. If Peanuts owner had been licensed as an actual wildlife rehab, it would have been different but wildlife are not pets even when they are friendly.
Likely because it is illegal to keep wildlife as pets.
to test for rabies, couldnt they have just observed the animal in some quarantine for the gestation period of the disease?
Like 7 years in a house?
No, rabies is an absolutely bizarre virus. The progression of the disease is highly variable. The person peanut bit could star displaying symptoms before peanut. Once symptoms show up, you are essentially dead. Rabies has one of the highest death rates of know human diseases. The only definitive way to test for rabies is testing brain tissue. The amount needed for a high confidence result is too much for the animal to survive. So the animal is always euthanized. That why having all pets that can be vaccinated, vaccinated is so important.
They could have, but if the animal had already bitten a human, that extra few weeks’ wait is dangerous.
Anyone bitten by a wild animal should be treated for rabies. To wait for the animal to be tested, quickly or slowly, is just foolish. This animal could have been quarantined and observed without any danger to the bite victim.
the prophylactic really fucking sucks to take AFAIK, you want to avoid it just a little bit less than rabies.
The newer vaccine is far less painful and even then, there’s not much that’s as bad as rabies.
You want to avoid rabies harder than anything other than being immolated… and really that still might be preferable because it is faster.
The vaccine was separate from the post-exposure prophylactic I had thought. I will look it up for myself.
These keyboard warriors don’t understand how fucked up rabies can get. Near 100% fatal once the infected becomes symptomatic, and it’s probably one of the worst disease-related deaths I can imagine. I’d rather take a cyanide pill.
I live near a forest where the fox population had to be culled because of the potential contact between humans or their pets and infected animals. There were billboards and television announcements that warned against approaching a wild animal that is acting friendly because it’s an indicator of infection.
There is a prophylactic for rabies. The squirrel had to be destroyed because it bit a human whose job it was to work with animals suspected of having rabies. These people are already trading human well-being for the sake of the price of a slightly expensive shot. It’s theater to suddenly pretend to give a shit about rabies after you’ve had one of your employees get bit.
Just have to chime in and say 100% fatal once symptomatic. I really hope someone corrects me but I’m pretty sure there has never been a confirmed case with a recovery; we have a treatment that works, but has to be given relatively soon after exposure.
There were cases where symptomatic patients survived, but the number is in the lower single digits and they all suffered debilitating neural damage. I wouldn’t call it recovery, no.
The immunoglobulin treatment aims to eliminate the pathogen before it can infect the nervous system. Once that happens, once the headaches start, it’s game over.
Oh wow, that’s pretty awesome (not the debilitating neural damage part), I was always under the impression that by the first symptom it was a death sentence.
I still never want anything to do with it, but at least it isn’t as bleak as I had been lead to believe.
It’s called the Milwaukee protocol, and it’s considered to be a failure.
The patient is put in a medically induced coma and treated with strong antiviral medication until the natural immune system can produce antibodies, but even a successful treatment doesn’t guarantee survival. Also, the debilitating neural damage. Honestly, I might still prefer a morphine overdose.
These animals lived with their owner for years and were consistently photographed for Instagram. Yeah, people know how bad rabies is. They clearly didn’t have it.
How can you tell? The incubation period of rabies can last for years.
They were squirrels on Instagram. That amounts to nothing.
They mean donations to whomever takes them in. Believe me, that means something to them. These guys never even tried.
Talk about bad faith arguments, lemme guess, you filed the complaint?
got it, this was pure animal control spite. they only claimed a bite after they seized the animal ‘for testing’. their timeline is bullshit.
at least some good came of it
Not necessarily, they’re asking for donations for legal battles.