Peanut, the squirrel removed from adopted home by New York state officials, may be euthanized

A beloved pet squirrel with thousands of adoring fans on social media has been taken away by state officials and may be euthanized, according to the owner.

Peanut or P’Nut the squirrel has more than 500,000 followers on Instagram and is a beloved mascot of P’Nut’s Freedom Farm, a 501c3 animal shelter based in upstate New York.

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In a post shared to Instagram on October 30, his family shared “there is a special place in hell” for the people who called the New York Department of Conservation about little Peanut, who is now seven years old.

“The NY state DEC came to my house and took Peanut,” the post reads. “He was taken to EUTHANIZED. I am shocked, disbelieving and disgusted by the people who did this, PNUT. For the past seven years, Peanut has been my best friend. He has been the center of my world and many of yours for so long, I don’t know how to emotionally process this.”

Peanut or P’Nut the squirrel has 532,000 followers on Instagram. (peanut_the_squirrel12 via Instagram)

Peanut was discovered by his family, Mark Longo, when he was five weeks old after his mother was hit by an oncoming car. He was then lovingly nursed back to health and would not return to the wild if released.

In the years since, Peanut and Mark have charmed the internet with videos of home life, crazy antics and enjoying several meals together. They then expanded to continue working on an animal rescue in Peanut’s name.

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“Last year we moved to New York in hopes of starting a NONPROFIT animal rescue in the name of PNUT,” read the Instagram post. “@pnuts_freedom_farm will forever live on in PNUT’s memory. With over 350 rescues, we have relied heavily on PNUT and its internet family to raise donations to help more animals. I don’t even know how I can continue to raise money for this nun profit organization.”

Donations are currently being accepted via a GoFundMe for P’Nut’s Freedom Farm in light of the recent news of the beloved squirrel’s possible euthanasia by state officials.

Peanut was rescued by his human adoptive parents at 5 weeks old after his mother was run over by a car. (peanut_the_squirrel12 via Instagram)

“Following multiple reports from the public about the potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that can transmit rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets, DEC has conducted an investigation,” said a statement shared by New York DEC to Fox News Digital. “DEC’s investigation is ongoing and additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”

A petition on Change.org in support of Peanut’s safe return home currently has just under 20,000 signatures. It is against the law in New York to own a wild animal without a permit.

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It is unclear whether Peanut has been euthanized yet; a video from October 31 claims his family does not know this information at this time.