Who is Mark Longo? NY man's petition to return internet sensation Peanut the Squirrel to his home gains mass support
A New York man, who made Peanut the Squirrel a social media celebrity, is now requesting state officials to give him back his cherished pet after the authorities confiscated it during a raid. Mark Longo has demanded that Peanut be returned to him because he is reportedly worried that the officials will put him to death.
As per NBC News’ November 1 article, this happened after officials from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, or DEC, visited Longo's house in rural Pine City, on Wednesday, October 30, following many alleged anonymous complaints regarding Peanut.
Mark Longo was living in Norwalk, Connecticut and a mechanical engineer before choosing to relocate to upstate New York last year to establish an animal refuge. About 300 animals, including horses, goats, and alpacas, are currently housed at P'Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, which Longo opened in April 2023.
After the authorities separated Longo and Peanut, Longo started a GoFundMe campaign and Change.org petition to raise money to "cover legal fees for attorneys who will assist us in addressing the damage caused and ensuring Peanut's return to his loving home."
Mark Longo doesn’t know if Peanut the Squirrel is alive or not
According to Greenwich Free Press’s August 6 report, as Mark Longo and his sister Britni grew up, their passion for animals was passed down from their parents, Mark and Denise.
Longo was born and raised in Greenwich, where he went to Cos Cob School, Central Middle School, and Greenwich High School. He became an engineer after graduating from college.
Most recently, however, Longo made a name for himself as a "proud squirrel dad." He has thousands of views across all social media platforms, 533,000 Instagram followers, and 423,000 Facebook followers.
Longo helped the little animal in New York City seven years ago when his mother was struck and killed by a car. He took care of the injured creature, put him in his pocket, and took him to his home in Connecticut.
After eight months of caring for him, Longo attempted to release Peanut the Squirrel into the wild, but as per the same NBC report:
“A day and a half later I found him sitting on my porch missing half of his tail with his bone sticking out.”
Longo concluded that Peanut the Squirrel lacked the survival skills necessary to survive in the wild, hence he continued to live indoors.
However, the same report said that after the police took Peanut the Squirrel away, Longo took to Instagram on October 30 to talk about the situation. He said:
“Today at 10am Wednesday, Oct 30, 2024… The NY State DEC showed up to my house and took Peanut. He was TAKEN to the EUTHANIZED. Im in shock, disbelief, and disgusted to the people who did this to, PNUT..”
He continued:
“Well internet, you WON. You took one of the most amazing animals away from me because of your selfishness. To the group of people who called DEC, there’s a special place in hell for you.”
Longo further said:
“The DEC came to my house and raided my house without a search warrant to find a squirrel! I was treated as if I was a drug dealer and they were going for drugs and guns.”
In a phone interview with NBC News on Thursday, October 31, Longo also shared his concerns that Peanut the Squirrel had already been put to death:
“I don’t know if Peanut is alive.. I don’t know where he is.”
According to the same source, a DEC representative said in a statement that the agency began an inquiry following "many public reports regarding the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets and the potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies."
However, a formal announcement regarding Peanut the Squirrel’s euthanasia was not made by the DEC spokesperson as of yet. Meanwhile, as per Change.org, Longo’s petition has already received 1,885 signatures and as of now, Mark’s Gofundme page has received $14,753 USD out of $20K.