The squirrel was actually brutally beaten to death by someone – and his upstairs owners believe it was due to jealousy.
Mark and Daniela Longo told The Post on Sunday that they were cashing in on their beloved Internet sensation — who helped drive followers to their cheesy OnlyFans page — before he was confiscated from their animal sanctuary and euthanasia by state environment Officials raised the suspicion of rabies last week.
The couple’s financial success, at least partially fueled by P’Nut, might be enough to inspire someone to drop money on them — and their fluffy-tailed cash cow, he said.
“Maybe it’s someone who thinks I use this place to make a lot of money,” Mark said of his rescue farm.
“Did it do wonders for my OnlyFans?” Mark said of the place where P’Nut hung out with other animals. “Absolutely. It is earning a lot of money.”
Longos said he bought his 350 acres near Elmira with the $800,000 he made in a month posting porn online — and that’s when P’Nuts started pulling its weight with its distinct family-friendly fan base. Did it.
“I had my own kind of squirrel dad account, my own Instagram,” Mark Longo said. “And it’s me who is doing my workouts and at times, you know, I don’t have time to create (double) content like I used to.
“I tagged my Squirrel Dad account with the Peanuts video I posted so it would get double the clip views,” he said. “From time to time, a shirtless photo (even on P’Nut’s page), but I completely distanced myself from this whole thing. Obviously, people were going to find the two and try to connect them.
Longo made headlines after the state environmental protection department raid their upper spread“P’Nuts Freedom Farm,” and captured their beloved beloved pet and his friend, a raccoon named Fred – both creatures were euthanized due to rabies concerns because they were in close contact with humans.
Viewed by many as victims of an overbearing state government, the pair have become local heroes.
“At the supermarket this morning, I wanted to pick up a few extra copies of The Post to keep with me,” Longo said, referring to the Sunday newspaper’s front-page headline “Bushie Whacked.”
“When I walked in, (people) recognized my face because I was on the cover of the newspaper. And he just smiled and nodded.
“Last night, my wife and I went out for dinner. We were having dinner, and the couple next to us looked at us and said, ‘We’re very sorry about what happened, and we want you to know that you have our full support,'” he continued. “Everyone was just watching, and then they’d tell us you know they were sorry about what happened to P’Nut.”
There was so much outrage over the squirrel’s death that a state legislator had to propose legislation to reform animal-rights laws, and the bill was called the “Peanut Law: Humane Animal Protection Act.”
“What happened to P’Nut was a tragedy,” said state Assemblyman Jakes. blumenkranz said on x“As a state legislator and an animal rights advocate, this tragedy can be an agent of change.”
The measure would mandate a 72-hour waiting period before a sanctuary can euthanize an animal and create an appeals system, while giving animal shelters “the right to humane due process.”
Other Poles have also reacted to P’Nut’s death.
A spokesperson for former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is reportedly eyeing a run for New York City mayor, trolled Governor Kathy Hochul over the way her administration handled P’Nut.
Representative Rich Azzopardi wrote, “When no one objects to the store and state agencies are allowed to act with impunity, things like this happen.” “This situation should have come across someone’s desk
@GovKathyHochul’s office and someone sane should have stepped in.
“#Justice4Peanuts”
“As a pet owner I feel for the Longos and I’m calling on Governor (Cathy) Hochul to issue an official apology for their ridiculous overreach,” GOP upstate U.S. Rep. Mark Molinaro wrote online.
A gofundme.com page for P’nut has raised more than $132,000.
Neither Hochul’s office nor DEC responded to The Post’s requests for comment on Sunday.
(TagstoTranslate)Metro(T)US News(T)Animal Rights(T)Farms(T)New York(T)Squirrel
