An Upstate New York man fears his pet squirrel was decapitated by state agents Rodent seized from his home – As a funeral has been scheduled for an internet-famous creature.
Mark Longo, the unhappy owner of P’Nuts. He told The Post he plans to file a lawsuit against the state Department of Environmental Conservation after they raided his home, took the squirrel and killed it to test for rabies.
“I’m looking forward to giving him a proper burial,” Longo told The Post about P’Nut’s funeral, which will be done through a fully functioning human funeral home, which has provided its space free of charge. Have done.”
“But even after seven days the body has not been returned. No results of rabies tests have been given.
DEC claimed it was forced to conduct rabies tests on P’Nut and Longo’s pet raccoon named Fred — and that those tests required a sample from the subject’s brain.
It’s a possibility that makes Longo shudder at the thought, and he’s prepared to sue.
“It’s much bigger than squirrels and raccoons. This is about government exaggeration,” he said. “We want justice for what happened at my house. You violated my house. You killed my animals.”
P’Nut – a squirrel with a fondness for a proportional cowboy hat – was raised by Longo and his wife in their home for seven years, after they rescued him as an orphan puppy.
After spending eight months rehabilitating the helpless animal, they released him – but he refused to go, so according to the couple, they took him into their home full-time.
Over those years the squirrels amassed a following on social media, and inspired the Longos to relocate from Connecticut and open a 350-acre animal sanctuary in Pine City.
But it all came crashing down in October when the DEC came out in response to an anonymous complaint about the Longos keeping P’Nuts and Fred in their home and moved in with the animals after tearing down the house. P’Nut is believed to have bit one of the agents on the hand during the operation, prompting DEC to euthanize both animals.
And Longo has not heard a word from DEC since then.
“I got the news of my animals being killed through a news station,” Longo said. “As a citizen of New York State, I had my animals slaughtered by my own government, and my own government couldn’t call me to tell me what happened. I had to read it in a newspaper,
“Someone must be held accountable for this massive overreach in power,” he said.
Longo has already retained an attorney, Nora Marino, and hopes Anyone who has been in a similar situation Contact the DEC when preparing your lawsuit.
“If this has happened to you – if you know someone who has – please reach out, we need a call to action,” Longo said.
“Now what’s stopping the average Joe from calling your neighbor and complaining about it? Are you able to get a search warrant if you complain enough? When will this end?”
However, for the next few days, Longo’s focus is solely on laying his beloved friends to rest, with a service possibly taking place Saturday at Elmira Funeral Home.
“This should never have happened to begin with. But in a way, I’m glad it happened. Because it gave Peanut a voice to shine a light on what’s going on in our government,” he said.
When contacted by the Post, DEC declined to comment and cited the ongoing litigation.
(TagstoTranslate)Metro(T)US News(T)Animals(T)Animal Rescue(T)Squirrel(T)Upstate New York
