Bipartisan outrage over the murder of social media star Peanut The Squirrel in New York

Amid an emotionally charged political divide between Wyoming and America, where conservatives and liberals can agree on almost nothing, they have found common ground on one issue.

It was wrong for government agents to seize and kill a New York man's social media star pet squirrel Peanut.

“If government agencies have nothing better to do than confiscate squirrels, then that just defies common sense,” one of the more conservative members of the Wyoming Legislature, Sen. Larry Hicks, R-Baggs, told Cowboy State Daily.

Outspoken animal rights activist Madhu Anderson of Rock Springs agreed.

“It seems like a government agency killed a man’s pet just to prove a point,” she told Cowboy State Daily.

The Squirrels' Grizzly 399

Peanut or “P'Nut” was an eastern gray squirrel rescued as a baby by Mark Longo in 2017 after the squirrel's mother was run over and killed in New York City.

Longo started featuring Peanut on his social media accounts and people loved him.

The squirrel's adorable antics captured a huge fan base across the country and around the world, similar to that of Wyoming beloved Grizzly 399. Peanut's antics can be seen on his own Instagram accountwhich has 714,000 followers.

According to Longo, at least half a dozen agents from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation searched Longo's home in Pine City, New York, on Wednesday and seized Peanut along with Longo's raccoon, Fred.

The DEC said it received numerous anonymous complaints about wildlife at Longo's residence.

After Peanut bit a DEC agent, he and Fred were both killed so their carcasses could be examined for rabies.

Peanut's murder sparked a wave of angry reactions.

Prominent conservatives and libertarians – such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and JD Vance – publicly condemned it as an example of government overreach.

Liberals and animal rights activists called the killings of Peanut and Fred unnecessary and cruel.

The risk of Peanut contracting rabies is low because the disease is rare in rodents, Marty Zaluski, a former Montana state veterinarian, told Cowboy State Daily. Additionally, he had lived in Longo's home for seven years and therefore likely would not have had contact with another infected animal.

Memes Warriors For Peanut

Peanut's death also sparked a flood of social media reactions and memes, some highly political and others darkly humorous.

A popular meme features an image of a squirrel replacing the rattlesnake on the Gladstone “Don't Tread on Me” flag. The flag is popular among conservatives and libertarians as an expression of resistance to government bureaucracy.

Other films featured Keanu Reeves' famous film franchise character John Wick, ready to take revenge for Peanut's murder.

In the original John Wick film, Reeves' character is a deadly assassin who, after the death of his dog and the theft of his 1969 Mustang Mach 1, is called upon to come out of retirement and seek bloody revenge.

Do you trust the government?

In Wyoming, people can keep squirrels as pets, but keeping them in captivity requires a permit from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Hicks said he's not worried about Wyoming agents searching people's homes because of a squirrel.

“Wyoming’s laws are more balanced and based on common sense,” he said.

However, Anderson said she believes Wyoming has “weak laws” protecting wildlife and domestic animals, and therefore worries that people's pets could be taken away.

What happened to Peanut and Fred the raccoon was “the excessive and unwarranted response of law enforcement and the misuse of taxpayer dollars,” she said.

Still, Anderson, she's glad Peanut's case is drawing attention and widespread outrage about animal welfare and the rights of pet owners.

“Conservatives, liberals, Democrats, Republicans — I think this is a sensitive issue because people care about animals,” she said.

Contact Mark Heins at [email protected]

Mark Heinz available at [email protected].