via GoFund Me
By now, you have probably heard the tragic news of P’Nut and Fred, the Instagram-famous squirrel and raccoon combo rescued by Mark Longo. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Chemung County Health Department “due to the presence of a rabies vector species (raccoon) in the home.” The two animals were hastily euthanized over government red tape and, in my opinion, to quickly cover up this use of taxpayer money.
This story has struck a nerve across the country. Now P’Nut’s fate has inspired a proposed new law, “Peanut’s Law,” according to Syracuse.com. This bill, introduced by NY Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz, seeks to reform how cases like this are handled, including a mandatory waiting period before euthanizing any sanctuary animals. It’s an urgent response to prevent cases like P’Nut’s from happening again, giving influencers and animal lovers a fighting chance against bureaucratic overreach.
Let’s get you up to speed on the P’Nut and Fred saga…
To get you up to speed,it was determined P’Nut the Squirrel wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild after the injuries he sustained so Longo took him in. That squirrel was seven years old and amassed 279K+ TikTok and 710K+ Instagram followers for being a lil’ scamp who enjoys eating waffles, among other adorably pure things. Because of the squirrel’s popularity, Longo was able to altruistically establish P’Nut’s Freedom Farm to help other rescue animals in need. The innocent trash panda formerly known as Fred The Raccoon was a more recent addition and the cause for that budget Rambo cosplay when unsubstantiated rabies claims were called in.
P’Nut the squirrel, unfortunately, became collateral damage when he defended his family’s honor and bit one of the six (yes, six) agents who were forcibly taking his round boi brother from his home. (Side note: no one in the United States gotten rabies from a squirrel.)
The raid took five hours because the DEC had already binged a Godfather marathon the week before and decided it might be fun to hold a constituent’s TikTok famous squirrel hostage to run out the clock.
Tens of thousands of signatures in an online petition demanded Peanut’s return to no avail. “We were ready to comply. We were ready to complete the paperwork. We were in the process of doing that,” Longo told CBS New York. “We needed a little bit of guidance from the DEC.” Both animals were euthanized to test for rabies.
Under New York state law, the only way to legally rescue squirrels is to become a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. To keep a domesticated wild animal legally, it also has to be registered as an educational animal. Both legislative speedbumps can take months on their own, and it’s for these reasons that squirrels and raccoons in NY that can’t be released are usually kept on the down low. “I was treated as if I was a drug dealer and they were going for drugs and guns,” said Longo. Similarly, Tony Cavallaro, another New York resident, is suing the DEC for their forced removal of his 750-pound pet alligator in March of 2024. “My God, they make me look like a drug lord, like Escobar, that’s what they treated it like,” Cavallaro said in a phone interview. “What reason do they have to go to this extreme?” he told The Post. “They had full body armor two assault shotguns … It looks like a DEA drug bust of some kingpin. They looked like a SWAT team for a terrorist attack.”
You know how most meetings could have been an email? These raids could have been a phone call. And, possibly, a pleasant one ending with the proper permit instructions and a feasible timeline!
Some crowds have leveraged P’Nut and Fred’s death as a rally for less government oversight.
While there’s nothing we can do for the late P’Nut and Fred, what we can do is ensure this doesn’t happen again. It sets a dangerous precedent when Instagram-famous rescue animals are forcibly taken from their influencer owners because someone was jealous they looked better in gray sweatpants than them. Is your favorite celebrity rescue animal belonging to a paperwork-averse Millennial next?
In response to the controversial euthanization of Peanut, an internet-famous squirrel, New York Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz has introduced “Peanut’s Law,” aiming to reform animal seizure protocols in New York State. The proposed law, inspired by the backlash after Peanut and a rescued raccoon were euthanized by DEC agents for rabies testing, would amend New York’s Environmental Conservation Law to include a 72-hour holding period for sanctuary animals, a review board for appeals, and protections for sanctuaries like P’Nuts Freedom Farm, where Peanut lived. The case has ignited political debate, with figures like Elon Musk and former President Trump weighing in, and has led to bomb threats targeting DEC offices as public outrage intensifies.
To my non-New Yorkers, you can help Longo and his nonprofit P’Nut’s Freedom Farm by donating here.
RIP P’Nut and Fred <3