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Aug. 11, 2025 - Lionel Nation
13:22
Why New York Killed P’Nut the Squirrel — And Why the Owners Are Fighting Back
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Absolutely infuriates me at a level that I'm surprised it does.
And when you bring it up, people kind of laugh.
They think it's funny.
They don't really see what this is about.
Oh, Peanut the squirrel, ha ha ha.
What if it was a human being?
Well, granted, I don't want to sit here and pretend who is worthy more of due process, but that's what this is.
It's governmental overreach.
This is the rise and tragic fall of Peanut, which was really a tale of government overreach.
It starts like this.
In late October of 2024, what began as a story of social media charm spiraled into this incredibly sweeping symbol of state overreach, draconian overreach.
Peanut or peanut, as he was so lovingly known, and his raccoon friend, Fred.
Don't forget Fred.
They became victims of a raid that turned their lives into a cautionary tale.
Remember, at first, your first inclination is to laugh at this because, you know, Peanut kind of reminds me of, you know, Chuckles the Clown or something.
But Peanut was rescued in 2017 by mechanical engineer Mark Longo after he found orphaned and injured in New York City this little raccoon, squirrel rather.
He was raised in his home and later showcased with flair and panache, including a little cowboy hat holding waffles.
Peanut quickly became an internet sensation and a source of income.
So by October of 2024, his Instagram had over half a million followers.
And his fame, his fame expanded to TikTok and cameos and OnlyFans, bringing in substantial monetized attention.
As a result, Longo and his wife, Daniella Bittner, expanded their operation into what they called Peanuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, housing some, listen to this, 300 animals, as reported in late 2024.
Okay?
Now, it works like this.
There were complaints and government scrutiny which followed.
Of course, it seems that celebrity status comes from, well, and with some unwanted exposure.
Complaints surfaced in early 2024, lodged by licensed wildlife rehabilitators and neighbors and assorted pains in the arse, asserting of all things, inter alia, that Longo was illegally keeping wild animals without appropriate credentials.
Okay, fine.
Now, it seems like the Department of Environmental Conservation, the DEC, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, DEC, initially held back and they cited, you know, the usual bureaucratic stuff and hurdles and inefficient evidence and that sort of thing.
And they kind of said, okay, you know, enough is enough of this stuff.
But the tipping point came in October when it was reported that Longo had brought a raccoon into his home.
Well, no way.
Freedom of speech, freedom of association, not in New York State.
You see, the racial concern, or the facial concern rather, raised alarm as raccoons, as you can understand this, are known as rabies carriers.
Okay, I mean, theoretically, that's fine.
And the public health review spurred action.
A judge issued a warrant, and agents from the DEC and the health department swooped down and converged on the Longo's Pine City home on October the 30th.
Now, it was a raid, a seizure, and then the fatal bite, the alleged fatal bite.
The seizure turned violent, so they said.
According to reports, Peanut bit a DEC wildlife biologist through two layers of thick leather gloves.
Right.
And Epstein killed himself, right?
Is that it too?
Okay.
Now, the bite, authorities claims, made euthanasia necessary to test, of course, for rabies, given that anti-mortem rabies testing isn't feasible without brain tissue.
Now, moments later, moments later, both Peanut and Fred were euthanized and decapitated for testing.
They weren't euthanized.
They were executed.
But the results, both animals tested negative for rabies.
And despite the negative findings, their bodies were never returned.
And the owners received no apology, no nothing.
And as Longo's lawsuit later put it, this was not a matter of rabies prevention, but a senseless act of violence, an obscene demonstration of government abuse.
You with me?
The public backlash and the political firestorm were unbelievable.
Peanuts' death quickly became a cultural lightning rod.
The emotional intensity was felt from social media to the halls of power to DC to the White House, everywhere.
Users online condemned the raid, with some suggesting it was political overreach and a vendetta, or even a morality play gone wrong.
Politicians seize on the story.
Donald Trump Jr. quipped, they will let rapists and murderers across the border go and come into our country but kill a pet squirrel.
That's Democrat overreach.
And in response to the public uproar and bomb threats targeting DEC facilities, allegedly, the department pledged a procedural overhaul.
The new acting commissioner, Amanda Lefton, announced reforms, introducing body cameras for agents.
Okay.
Updating rabies testing protocols and by revising wildlife seizure protocols.
Now the lawsuit was filed.
Justice, not just for Peanut, for all of us.
Longo and Bittner didn't back down.
In late June 2025, they filed a 40-page lawsuit in Chemung Shemung, C-H-E-M-U-G, U-U-N-G, County Supreme Court, accusing the state of executing their pets rather than humanely euthanizing them for rabies testing.
They argue the bite may not have happened or was a result of agent mishandling.
And even if it did, the agent should have been vaccinated.
They accused authorities of exceeding the search, exceeding the warrant's scope, and causing extreme emotional and financial damage, leveraging animals' internet celebrity status.
They made money from this.
And that also was used to fund this particular sanctuary.
Then on August the 9th of 2025, they filed a new court of claims suit in Albany seeking $10 million in damages.
Court of claims lawsuits are against the state of New York and certain agencies.
It's a specific jurisdiction.
And the suit labels the incident as egregious government violence, not a legitimate health intervention.
So Longo and Bittner then claim that their losses go beyond sentiment.
They include monetized content revenue, emotional trauma, and public reputation.
Now, the citizens reacted immediately.
A cultural crack in the system was seen, and the outrage wasn't confined to animal lovers.
The raid was seen by many as emblematic of creeping, jackbooted government overreach.
Accusations ranged from excessive force during a raid on a rodent to treating a sanctuary owner like a terrorist.
Defenders of Longo used the term squirrel-napped using New York's law enforcement or saying rather that New York's law enforcement crossed the line into absurdity while ignoring bigger crimes.
Now, the legal and legislative fallout were beyond the courtroom, as you can imagine, because state legislatures, legislators, introduced Peanuts law.
Forget, what about Frank?
Anyway, aimed at reining in animal seizure practices.
And the proposed Legislation mandates administrative hearings before any raid or euthanasia.
That's due process.
That's it.
Due process, procedural due process, which is redundant for wildlife caregivers, especially those operating sanctuaries or informal rescue operations.
Let's look at the anatomy of overreach here.
That's what this is.
Peanut's death has become an unsettling case and really a case study, really, in civil liberties.
The government's action, the raid, exclusion, execution without notice, all followed by silence, echoes scenarios usually reserved for human civil rights violations.
It illustrates how bureaucratic inertia and fear-driven overreaction protocols and lack of transparency can converge into tragic and sickening outcomes like this.
From Longo's side, the sanctuary was a labor of love, consistent with wildlife rehabilitation.
From the state side, legal infractions and rabies' risks demanded intervention.
But this was less about health and more about control and teaching them a lesson.
You didn't ask for permission.
And there's no slight, too minimal, too undignified for the state.
And the cost of that was the life of a beloved pet and a symbol for many.
So the final punch.
Is it going to be justice or just a message?
Well, we'll see.
Where does this leave the public?
See, the Longos want not just justice for Peanut and Fred, but safeguards for rescuers and caretakers everywhere.
See, the lawsuit and proposed reforms aren't just courtroom theatrics.
They've already awakened the sleeping giant, their desperate attempts to prevent another viral tragedy from unfolding.
Will New York pay $10 million in restitution?
I hope so.
That amount feels symbolic, an attempt to quantify what is essentially incalculable, the emotional suffering inflicted by overreach and the sense of being so violated by your state and to be subject to ridicule and the emotional distress that follows therefrom.
But for those watching, it's also a test of accountability.
Will the system recover from its own narrative of abuse or will it dig in and become intransigent and double down on secrecy?
I don't know.
This is not about some cute little squirrel or a raccoon.
It's something bigger.
It's governmental overreach.
It's this bureaucratic mindset, this insanity.
They could have done, if this were Kathy Hochl's child or grandchild, I guarantee you they would have said, let's work this out.
Let's take a look.
Let's see.
Let's observe, make sure everything's okay.
This story is complete and utter bullshit about biting through blood.
Come on.
They don't even care about pretending not to lie.
This is what we're talking about.
This is the problem that we face today.
And this is why this case is important.
Justice for Peanut, for Frank, but justice for us against these bureaucratic, these Stasi-like jackbooters.
It's the people who themselves get the badge, get the light, get the guns, get all this stuff, but never really, they're not taken seriously.
And whenever they get a chance to swoop in on a raid, on a raid to get a little squirrel and his sidekick raccoon, I mean, this sounds, they overreach because they're not respected.
They don't get, they don't have SWAT teams.
They don't have drones.
They don't have the, you're not going to see NYPD squirrel or something.
They have to show you.
It's like the meter maid, the parking official, the guy at the airport who says, move it along, move it along.
The one who's never taken seriously.
The one who looks like a cop, acts like a cop, but isn't treated with the same respect.
Oh, this goes much, much deeper.
So what do you think, my friends?
What do you think?
How angry does this make you?
How furious does this make you?
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