NEW YORK — A person who took in an orphaned squirrel and made it a social media star vowed Saturday that New York state’s determination to grab and euthanize the animal “will not go unheard.”

“We are going to make a stance on how this authorities and New York state makes use of their assets,” Mark Longo mentioned in a cellphone interview.

He declined to specify his doable subsequent steps however mentioned officers would hear from him quickly about what occurred to Peanut the squirrel and Fred, a rescued raccoon that was additionally confiscated and put down.

The state Division of Environmental Conservation took the animals Wednesday from Longo’s house and animal sanctuary in rural Pine Metropolis, close to the Pennsylvania border. The company mentioned it had gotten complaints that wildlife was being stored illegally and probably unsafely.

State regulation requires folks to get a license in the event that they want to personal a wild animal. Longo has mentioned he was working to get Peanut – also called P’Nut or PNUT – licensed as an academic animal.

The DEC and the Chemung County Well being Division mentioned Friday that the squirrel and raccoon had been euthanized in order that they could possibly be examined for rabies after Peanut bit somebody concerned within the investigation.

Longo mentioned Saturday that he did not see Peanut chunk anybody throughout what he described as an hourslong, heavy-handed search. The authorities have not spoken with him since they left the property, he mentioned.

“Actually, this nonetheless type of feels surreal, that the state that I stay in truly focused me and took two of probably the most beloved animals on this planet away, did not even quarantine them. They took them from my home and simply killed them,” he mentioned.

A request for remark was despatched to the DEC on Saturday.

Longo mentioned he began caring for Peanut after the animal’s mom was hit by a automotive in New York Metropolis seven years in the past. Tens of hundreds of customers of Instagram, TikTok and different social media platforms glimpsed the animal sporting tiny hats, doing methods and nibbling on waffles clutched in his little paws.

Longo mentioned Fred the raccoon was dropped off on his doorstep a couple of months in the past. After serving to the animal recuperate from accidents, Longo mentioned, he and his spouse had been planning to launch the creature into the woods.

___

Related Press author Jennifer Peltz contributed. Observe Julie Walker on X @jwalkreporter.

The video within the participant above is from a earlier report.