New York man has Instagram-famous squirrel Peanut seized by authorities: ‘I’m in shock’

NEW YORK – New York State authorities have a Instagram famous squirrel named Peanut, from the home of a New York man on Wednesday.

Let’s just say they weren’t as crazy about the idea as Mark Longo and his half a million followers. Longo’s pets also include a raccoon named Fred, which was also seized during the raid.

Longo said at least six officers from the Department of Environmental Conservation came to his door trying to find Peanut.

“I am shocked, incredulous and disgusted by the people who did this at PNUT.” Mark Longo

The raid on Longo’s home in rural Pine City, near the Pennsylvania border, was initiated by several anonymous individuals complaints about Pinda — also called P’Nut or PNUT.

“Well internet, you won. You took one of the most amazing animals from me because of your selfishness,” he posted on Instagram.

A spokesperson for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) 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 could transmit rabies and the illegal keeping of wild animals as pets.”

Longo, 34, a mechanical engineer by profession, says he moved to New York in 2023 with ambitions to start a nonprofit animal rescue organization in Peanut’s name called P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.

The organization opened in April 2023 and currently cares for approximately 300 animals, including horses, goats and alpacas. Longo runs the shelter together with his wife Daniela and other family members.

“He has been the center of my world and many of yours for so long, I don’t know how to emotionally process this.” Mark Longo

He initially took Peanut in after determining that he did not have the survival skills to live in the wild and would instead have to remain an indoor squirrel.

Judging from Peanut’s Instagram account, he’s clearly no ordinary squirrel. He jumps onto Longo’s shoulders with precision, wears a trendy cowboy hat and even eats waffles.

“I don’t even know how I’m going to move forward..” he wrote on Instagram.

He claims Peanut was taken to be euthanized.

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

In response, Longo says he is taking a step away from social media, adding, “THANK YOU for breaking up a family.”

Longo says he will be setting up a fundraiser for those who want to donate in Peanuts’ name. “I will never give up on this nonprofit and those who fell in love with peanuts,” he wrote.

As for Fred, Longo admitted that he hoped to rehabilitate the injured creature and return him to the forest.