It took at least 12 New York animal cops in a four-hour “squirrel raid” to find and seize a pet squirrel and raccoon from an amateur sanctuary in a case that has drawn national scorn from Vice President JD Vance and tech giant Elon Musk.
New law enforcement documents shared with Secrets by Judicial Watch provided the first details about the October raid and included notes that the officials planned to euthanize the wildlife to test for rabies, even before one of the officers said “Peanut,” the squirrel bit her.
Dubbed a “squirrel raid” by the Washington-based legal watchdog, the package of 163 pages secured under a Freedom of Information Law lawsuit described an operation of overwhelming force to find Instagram star Peanut and “Fred” the raccoon after officials received a few anonymous complaints.
Among the surprises revealed, the state said it planned to test for rabies in the “pets” before the raid because raccoons are “a rabies vector species.” That required that the animals first be killed, their heads decapitated. No rabies was found in the tests of Peanut or Fred.
“New York State bureaucrats did not want to turn over these documents, but Judicial Watch’s lawsuit forced their hand,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The documents show an abuse of power where 12 officers were sent in on a raid to seize Peanut and Fred, who the bureaucrats decided beforehand would be killed. These documents show the killing of Peanut the Squirrel and Fred the Racoon was the result of pure government abuse and insanity,” he added.
Mark Longo had Peanut for seven years and featured the squirrel in social media posts used to raise money for his “sanctuary.” But a handful of people complained, and the state moved in.
During the raid by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Longo said he was unlicensed to hold wildlife, though he said he was applying for a sanctuary license. He also initially denied that he had the animals in his home.
Once Peanut was found in a bathtub and Fred in a suitcase, Longo pleaded to keep them.
One of the officers who seized the squirrel said she was bitten on a finger, though the bite apparently didn’t break through her latex glove.
New York officials have said that they blew the raid at Longo’s home in Pine City, New York, near the Pennsylvania border, and planned to “do better” in the future.
The documents released by Judicial Watch were the first to provide information on the size of the raid. The officer who organized said at least 12 law enforcement personnel were involved: “3 DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] investigators, 1 investigator lieutenant, 4 uniform ECOs [Environmental Control Officers], 1 uniform lieutenant, and 3 Bureau of Wildlife staff.”
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Longo has threatened to sue the state, and the case has sparked a consideration of “Peanut’s Law” to require a 72-hour waiting period before animals from animal sanctuaries are euthanized, possibly long enough to observe symptoms of rabies.
The case resulted in widespread online anger at New York officials. Vance expressed concern during a 2024 election rally, and Musk called the raid “government overreach.”