Yep, it's amazing what stupid things people do these days, but I think it's largely because many people live so far from nature and farming, and don't realize the dangers of treating wild animals as domestic--everything from harm to humans, to harm to the animal itself, to harm to the population. I wonder about these "Animal Rights" activists who release caged research animals, or nurse animals back to health and release them, only to find that they carry a domestic disease back to their herd and wipe out many wild animals.
You don't have to be a Darwin evolutionist to realize that even intraspecies, nature's way is sometimes rather cruel...but messing with it can be crueller.
" . . . many people live so far from nature and farming, and don't realize the dangers of treating wild animals as domestic . . . ."
Maybe squirrels look cute because of their big eyes and bushy tails, but they are rodents, like rats, who can bring in many diseases. I don't think I'd want any around me, even a baby one.