Neuty the nutria, viral pet rodent whose family fought a state to keep him, dies of cancer | Animals
Condolences poured in for a Louisiana couple who successfully battled wildlife officials to keep their domesticated nutria as a pet, watched the semi-aquatic rodent appear on cable news and followed tens of thousands strong on social media, and then endured the animal’s recent death from cancer.
Denny and Myra Lacoste announced Neuty’s death on Instagram on Monday prompted more than 37,000 users to follow an account dedicated to documenting the nutria’s life.
“Neuty passed away peacefully in his sleep on one of his favorite rugs on Saturday morning,” the announcement said. “We are devastated, our hearts hurt”
One representative response to the post said: “What an incredible creature he was, had the best family! He will be so sorely missed.”
Another came from popular New Orleans-based brewery Urban South, which said, “We’ve always loved having Neuty in the business.”
Neuty’s unique southeast Louisiana saga began on Christmas Eve 2020, when he was a day-old baby and the Lacostes found him on the side of a road divided by a drainage ditch in their hometown of New Orleans’ Metairie suburb. Some of his siblings had been fatally hit by a car. And as the Guardian’s news partner, he too looked doomed WWL Louisiana he wrote before.
Nutrias, which resemble smaller capybaras, are thought to be part of an invasive species. The beaver-like creatures have been known to wreak havoc on everything from crops to marshes to fragile coastlines across the state.
However, Denny Lacoste told the press that Neuty won his heart at first sight. The seafood supplier fed Neuty pet milk for several weeks and potty trained him to a healthy weight of 20 lbs (9 kg), and the animal essentially became a family member.
But eventually Neuty’s story made the news. Louisiana’s wildlife and fisheries department attempted to seize Neuty, citing laws regulating wild animals. However, it faced public reaction and change.org After a petition called “Free Neutrality” gathered more than 17,000 signatures, authorities allowed the nutria to live with the Lacostes as pets.
The fight that pitted Neuty and Lacoste against the government has given the rodents a level of social media fame that many influencers would envy. HE appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show in April 2023, just days before the host and the network went their separate ways.
“Nice to meet Neuty,” Carlson told the Lacostes at the time. “On behalf of all animal lovers, I want to thank you for your courage in the face of government intervention.”
Neuty has recently begun appearing at local schools, fairs, festivals and farmers markets as social media pages following his life gain popularity and event invitations pour in. bucktown and much more than displaying calm behavior with the children and other people—sometimes dozens—who surround him, look at him, and caress him.
In mid-February, Lacostes could be seen wearing his leash and stopping to take photos with Mardi Gras marchers young and old.
But less than a month later, on March 11, Lacostes clarified Neuty had been diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous tumor.
he was cleared for radiation therapy as his cancer spread, WWL reported. But on Friday, Lacostes was said to have noticed a subtle change in his personality. On Saturday, he ate the last of his preferred milky bone treats and died about an hour later.
“We can talk more about happiness [and] The happiness that Neuty brings… [for] “We are heartbroken and we miss him terribly and will continue to miss him, but we will never forget the wonderful times we shared with him, he made us laugh literally every day,” the Lacostes wrote in their announcement of Neuty’s death.
