Is it legal to have a pet squirrel? Beloved Peanut the squirrel euthanized in New York

Fans have been in an uproar since internet sensation Peanut the squirrel was seized from his owner's home and euthanized by New York officials this week, over what they say was the unfair killing of a beloved family member.

Peanut and a raccoon named Fred were both taken Wednesday from Mark Longo's home in Pine City, in the south-central part of New York along the Pennsylvania border, after the county's health department and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation said in a statement they had received reports about "potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets."