The owners of Peanut the Squirrel they spoke after the pet was impounded and euthanized by the authorities.

Mark and Daniela Longo suspect that someone jealous of their success may have called the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to remove the animal from their sanctuary.

“Maybe there’s someone who thinks they’re using this place to make a lot of money,” Mark said The New York Post after Peanut was dropped on November 1st.

“They treated me like I was a terrorist. They treated this raid like I was a drug dealer. They ransacked my house for five hours.”

Mark Longo shared details of the Peanut Squirrel capture operation at his New York animal sanctuary

Image credits: Peanut The Squirrel

Mark revealed that the beloved pet’s virality helped drive traffic to his adult content site. “Did it do wonders for my OF? Absolute. There’s a lot of money to be made from it.”

Peanuts he lived on the couple’s 350-acre property, P’nut’s Freedom Farm, near Elmira, New York, which they bought with the money they made from posting. Rated X online content.

“I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m disgusted,” Mark said in a video, fighting back tears after the squirrel’s death.

“We fight and work every day to pay our state taxes and they come back and do this to a family.”

Image credits: Numerically

In addition to Peanut, DEC seized a raccoon named Fred. both animal were euthanized concerns about rabies because Peanut allegedly bit an agent and had to be tested for the disease.

Mark is reportedly filing a motion to obtain the medical records of the officials who were at his home to see if they actually tested positive for rabies, according to The post.

The decision to euthanasia the squirrel was met with so much criticism that Jake Blumencranz, a state lawmaker, proposed legislation to improve animal rights status, calling it the “Peanut Law: The Humane Protection of Animals Act.”

“I’m angry. i am sad I’m disgusted,” Mark said after the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) seized the squirrel

Image credits: Peanut The Squirrel

The Peanut’s Law provides for a 72-hour waiting period before a sanctuary animal can be euthanized and establishes an appeals system to ensure that animal shelter owners have “the right to a humane due process.”

The squirrel became an internet sensation after Mark and Daniela took him home seven years ago. The couple set up a Instagram account for their pet, where they posted photos of Peanut in various outfits — including a cowboy hat — eating waffles with Mark and doing tricks around their house.

“Peanut faced adversity, losing half his tail in a severe attack. Without developing essential wildlife instincts, Peanut has become an indoor squirrel that can’t break free,” reads the sanctuary site.

The couple adopted Peanut after he lost half his tail in a severe attack

Image credits: Peanut The Squirrel

“Remarkably, Peanut became the first squirrel to amass over 1 million, then 2 million followers on TikTok, with a combined social media following of over 3 million.”

A GoFundMe page titled Call For Justice for Peanut the Squirrel and NYSDEC Reform allege that DEC agents “failed to follow proper law enforcement procedures.”

According to the fundraiser’s description, officials repeatedly asked “if there were security cameras located in their home and inappropriately asked one of their owners about their immigration status, treating them as if be criminals for a beloved pet.”

Mark said DEC agents ‘raided’ his home and treated him like a ‘terrorist’

“We fight and work every day to pay our state taxes and they turn around and do this to a family,” the content creator said.

Image credits: Peanut The Squirrel

Animals showing signs of rabies must be euthanized for submission of specimens to a qualified rabies laboratory for testing as required CDC.

DEC states that it is illegal for young wild animals to be kept as pets. If one finds a young wild animal that is injured or orphaned, this the department recommends contacting a wildlife rehabilitator, who “are the only people legally authorized to receive and treat wildlife in distress.”

Bored panda has reached out to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation for comment.

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