A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star called Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it during a raid that also yielded a raccoon named Fred.

Mark Longo, who called Peanut the Squirrel his pet for this past seven years, described the New York's decision to seize and euthanize the wild animal turned social media star a "disgrace." "What happened today and what transpired throughout this week has been nothing short of a tragedy and a disgrace to the New York state,

An Instagram-famous squirrel named Peanut was seized from his owner on Wednesday, October 30th, and people everywhere are outraged; so much so that there's a petition that's already been signed by nearly 25 thousand people to get Peanut back home.