The man from New York whose Pet crocodile Albert seized by state officials Pet owners have been warned that Squirrel Rescuer’s beloved friend P’Nuts was also captured and killed, after which they may come for you next time.
“I think there is a bigger plan behind all of this,” Tony Cavallaro told The Post on Sunday. “They’re going after innocent people to see how far they can get away from us.”
Cavallaro said he was horrified when he heard about the state Department of Environmental Protection’s treatment of P’Nut, a rehabilitated squirrel who was kept as a pet by New Yorker Mark Longo.
The agency raided Longo’s Pine City home on Wednesday and seized animals, including his pet raccoon Fred. The DEC said it had to kill wild pets to test for rabies because they were interacting closely with humans.
“It’s really sad that the squirrel did nothing,” Cavallaro said, adding that he was well aware of how powerless Longo must have felt during the DEC raid.
“I’m very sorry for what they went through. They can’t do anything,” he said of Longo and his wife.
Cavallaro has been battling the DEC for nearly eight months since Albert was taken away from him in March.
The crocodile – which Cavallaro had owned for 34 years and kept in an elaborate enclosure in his home – has since been moved to an “adventure park” in Texas.
Cavallaro is now trying to get Albert to at least one sanctuary he trusts.
As far as DEC is concerned, Cavallaro has nothing but disgust and disbelief.
“They are just dirty, dirty organizations. “I don’t know what they’re trying to do to us, but there’s no justification for it,” he said.
The DEC said it had to take down Albert because it was illegal for Cavallaro to keep him – a claim he strongly denies, insisting that he tried several times for Albert to renew his longtime permit. But the agency refused to respond for years.
Cavallaro called the agency’s treatment of Longo — who said he was treated like a “terrorist” during the five-hour raid — all too familiar, recalling how armed officers approached Albert. His house was raided and his house demolished.
Longo had been caring for Peanut for seven years, ever since he saved Peanut as a baby when his mother was hit by a car.
He kept the squirrel only because once he was nursed back to health he would not leave it – so P’Nut became a semi-pet, beloved not only by many, but by almost 3 million people. Who followed him on social media.
But it all came crashing down on Wednesday when the DEC came and took away P’Nut and Fred. Those animals were targeted – and not other animals on Longo’s property – because they lived in the home.
State officials have said both animals were later euthanized by DEC due to the risk of rabies and the danger such wild animals face living with humans. One agent claimed that P’Nut even bit him on the hand during the raid.
(Tags to translate) US News (T) Metro (T) Alligators (T) Buffalo New York (T) Pets (T) Upstate New York
