AP
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A New York man who turned a rescued squirrel into a social media star named Peanut is pleading with state authorities to return his beloved pet after they seized it in a raid that also netted a raccoon named Fred.

Multiple anonymous complaints about Peanut — also spelled P’Nut or PNUT — brought at least six state Department of Environmental Conservation agents to Mark Longo’s home near the Pennsylvania border in rural Pine City on Wednesday, Longo said.

“The DEC came to my house and raided my house without a search warrant to find a squirrel!” said Longo, who is 34. “I was treated as if I was a drug dealer and they were looking for drugs and weapons.”

The agents left with Peanut, who amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, TikTok and other platforms during his seven years with Longo. They also took Fred, a more recent addition to the family.

A DEC spokesperson said in a statement that the agency launched an investigation after receiving “multiple reports from the public regarding the potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that can transmit rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets. ”

Longo, who runs an animal sanctuary inspired by his squirrel friend called P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, took to Instagram to mourn the loss of Peanut.

“Well internet, you won,” Longo posted. “You took one of the most amazing animals from me because of your selfishness. To the group of people who called DEC, there is a special place in hell for you.”

Longo fears that Peanut has been euthanized. “I don’t know if Peanut is still alive,” he said in a telephone interview Thursday. “I don’t know where he is.”

The DEC spokesperson did not respond when asked whether Peanut had been euthanized.

Longo said he saw Peanut’s mother hit by a car in New York City seven years ago, leaving the little squirrel an orphan. Longo brought Peanut home and cared for him for eight months before attempting to release the squirrel into the wild. “A day and a half later I found him sitting on my porch with half his tail missing and his bone sticking out,” Longo said.

Longo determined that Peanut did not have the survival skills to live in the wild and a squirrel would stay indoors.

Shortly after Longo posted videos of Peanut playing with his cat, internet fame followed.

A scroll through Peanut’s Instagram account suggests that this is no ordinary squirrel. Peanut jumps on Longo’s shoulder, he wears a miniature cowboy hat, he eats a waffle while wearing crocheted bunny ears.

Over the years, Peanut’s story has been featured on TV and in newspapers, including USA Today.

Longo, who works as a mechanical engineer, lived in Norwalk, Connecticut, until he decided to move to upstate New York last year to start an animal shelter.

P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary opened in April 2023 and is now home to about 300 animals, including horses, goats and alpacas, said Longo, who runs the sanctuary with his wife Daniela and other family members.

Longo is aware that it is against New York state law to own a wild animal without a permit. He said he was in the process of filing paperwork to have Peanut certified as an educational animal.

“If we don’t follow the rules, guide us in the right direction to follow the rules, you know?” Longo said. “Let us know what we need to do to have Peanut in the house and not have to worry about him being taken.”

As for Fred, Longo said he had only had the raccoon for a few months and hoped to rehabilitate the injured creature and return him to the woods.

Longo is not the first animal owner to protest the seizure of a pet by New York authorities. A Buffalo man whose alligator was seized by the DEC in March is suing the agency to get the 700-pound reptile back.