Yulia Orlenko walked through her front door to find her sofa in pieces. Foam everywhere.
Fabric hanging off in strips. And sitting calmly beside the wreckage, looking entirely pleased with herself, was the prairie dog responsible.
The footage, posted on Instagram via @eva_and_jorik, has been viewed more than 899,000 times.
It shows the small burrowing rodent perched next to the destroyed cushions with the energy of someone who has done absolutely nothing wrong.
‘This is how they entertain themselves’
Orlenko, 38, keeps two prairie dogs at her home.
She splits her time between Spain and Thailand. Both animals were left unsupervised while she was out.
“We were out of the home and this is how they find a way to entertain themselves,” she told Creatorzine.
“There are two of them at home.”
The damage was significant. The sofa was beyond saving.
Orlenko says she couldn’t bring herself to be angry about it.
“Of course we were very surprised but she is so charming, we can do nothing,” she said.
“Just admit their necessities and that they’re trying to make their lives better.”
Chewing is the point
Prairie dogs are burrowing rodents from the squirrel family. Gnawing is not a behavioural problem.
It is the behaviour. According to the video caption, chewing helps them control teeth growth and manage stress.
Without proper outlets, furniture becomes the outlet.
Orlenko framed the destruction as her pets doing what their biology demands. The sofa was simply in the way.
The comments split sharply
Not everyone found it funny. One commenter called it neglect outright: “This isn’t cute. This is a bored exotic animal with no companionship and no enclosure.”
Others took the prairie dog’s side. “100% innocent,” wrote one viewer.
“So cute,” added another.
The split is predictable. Exotic pet content reliably generates two audiences at once: people who find the animals adorable and people who think they shouldn’t be in a living room at all.
Both camps engage heavily, which is why videos like this reach nearly a million views without any promotion.
Why it matters
Exotic pet content is one of the most consistently viral categories on Instagram and TikTok, and one of the most polarising.
Creators who post it get reach that conventional pet accounts struggle to match, but they also attract scrutiny that dog and cat owners rarely face.
For anyone building a following around unusual animals, the comment section is always going to be a battleground.
The audience grows fast. So does the criticism.
Prairie dogs remain legal to keep as pets in parts of Europe, though regulations vary.
The debate over whether they belong in homes isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the content.
Orlenko hasn’t said whether she’s replaced the sofa.
Given that the prairie dogs are still there, it might not be worth the investment.
READ MORE: Massive pig storms Peru polling station on election day – locals couldn’t stop asking one QUESTION
