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.

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.

Peanut's owner Mark Longo told NewsNation host Chris Cuomo that he is "appalled" that New York uses resources to kill a raccoon and squirrel.