Internet Rallies Behind Instagram-Famous Pet Squirrel Named ‘Peanut’ That Was Taken By The State Of New York

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UPDATE: in a new video, Mark Longo announced the state had euthanized Peanut

He writes “RIP MY BEST FRIEND. Thank you for the best 7 years of my life. Thank you for bringing so much joy to us and the world. I’m sorry I failed you but thank you for everything ❤️ Yall we desperately need your help. Help us raise the money to fight this and help @pnuts_freedom_farm continue to help animals like peanut” His latest video can be seen here on Peanut’s Instagram. R.I.P., Peanut.

After six officials from the state of New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation arrived at Mark Longo’s home to seize Peanut the Squirrel, his pet that has become Instagram famous, the Internet has quickly rallied behind Peanut and Mark to try and reunite them.

I forget where I read this years ago, but someone said something to the effect of ‘in America, we care more about animals than people’ and it’s incredible how true that rings in many situations because in this instance the state of New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation sent SIX AGENTS out to confiscate a SQUIRREL.

Let’s start from the beginning, Peanut the Squirrel aka P-Nut aka P-Nutty (sorry, I made that last one up, it’s bad) is a pet squirrel who had become famous on social media. Peanut has amassed 535,000+ followers on Instagram with videos of him and his owner doing silly things around the house with his owner who runs an animal sanctuary named P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Check out Peanut’s Instagram feed for yourself but many of the videos look like this or with them eating toaster waffles around the house:

According to NBC News, there were ‘multiple anonymous complaints’ filed about Peanut the Squirrel which led to officials from New York’s DEC to raid his house and seize the pet squirrel along with Mark Long’s pet raccoon named Fred.

Since Peanut was taken, Longo has been rallying people on social media to help him get his pet squirrel back. He has been posting videos about the ordeal. And there is now a Change.org petition with nearly 25,000 signatures (I just signed it). The petition can be found here.

Following the DEC raid on his home, Longo says “I was treated as if I was a drug dealer and they were going for drugs and guns.” It’s worth reiterating that SIX agents stormed his house to seize a squirrel and a raccoon after receiving anonymous complaints… SIX agents for a squirrel! For this adorable squirrel:

Given that the complaints to the DEC were anonymous, it’s unclear if they were neighbors filing the complaints or Internet trolls who didn’t like seeing videos from Peanut the Squirrel on Instagram. Having worked on the Internet and dealt with online trolls for most of my adult life I would wager it was the latter.

According to NBC News, Longo originally took in Peanut after the squirrel was hit by a car in NYC. It was determined Peanut the Squirrel wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild after the injuries he sustained so Longo took him in. That was SEVEN YEARS AGO! But now the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the Internet is rallying behind Longo.

A GoFundMe has already raised over $5,400 to help with legal fees in the battle to get Peanut the Squirrel back home to the animal sanctuary where he belongs. To anyone interested, a link to the GoFundMe can be found at the bottom of the change.org petition.

Let’s get this squirrel home, dammit.