BATON ROUGE – Thousands upon thousands of people have signed an internet petition with the goal of keeping Neuty the Nutria out of the hands of state wildlife agents and keeping him with the family who rescued him.
Outcry erupted on social media Friday after news broke overnight that the popular quadruped was going to be seized by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The agency released a statement Thursday night saying that it was made aware of Neuty’s cozy but illegal living situation with a New Orleans-area family due to lighthearted news reports published this week.
Neuty, who’s been living with the Lacoste family for more than two years, had become somewhat of a celebrity in and around Metairie after regular sightings started getting attention on social media.
Despite his popularity, LDWF, said it had made arrangements to take Neuty and hand him over to the Baton Rouge Zoo, citing Louisiana law banning the ownership of nutria, which is considered an invasive nuisance species.
In the hours since the agency made that announcement, more than 17,000 people have signed the Change.org petition demanding that the state leave Neuty and his family alone.
As of Friday evening, the department has not publicly addressed the outcry.
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