On Oct. 30 both Peanut and Fred were confiscated by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, and later both animals were euthanized in order to be tested for rabies. Both animals tested negative for the disease.

A pet squirrel who was a social media star before being seized by authorities in upstate New York has tested negative for rabies.

Peanut the squirrel, the Instagram-famous rodent whose killing by New York State environmental officers became a brief election flashpoint, did not have rabies after all, officials have said. The animal's owner, Mark Longo, said he would file legal action ...