Peanut, the gray squirrel whose videos with caregiver Mark Longo drew a large social-media audience, was seized with a raccoon named Fred by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officers on October 30, 2024. Officials said both animals were euthanized for rabies testing after Peanut bit a worker; Chemung County Executive Chris Moss later said the tests were negative. The decision struck many people as an act of absolute inhumanity. Records later reviewed by The Associated Press added a troubling complication: officials had anticipated rabies testing before the search, while a possible temporary placement with a wildlife rehabilitator had also been explored. Those records raised questions about the handling of the case, but do not establish that officials broke the law or that a court has found the decision unlawful.
Why were Peanut and Fred seized?
Peanut, also called P’nut, was a gray squirrel cared for by Longo. He said he took the animal in after its mother was hit by a car in New York City. Videos featuring Peanut and Longo made the squirrel a social-media fixture. Longo and Daniela Bittner operated an animal sanctuary in Southport, New York.
On October 30, 2024, DEC officers arrived at the property with a search warrant authorizing the seizure of illegally possessed wildlife. They took Peanut and Fred, a raccoon. The Associated Press’s 2025 reconstruction, based on records, described about a dozen searchers converging on the property.
New York law prohibits possessing wild animals without a license, according to AP’s account. Longo and Bittner had taken steps to become wildlife rehabilitators, and Longo said he was filing paperwork to have Peanut certified as an educational animal. The available reporting does not establish that either authorization had been granted when officers arrived. The question of whether the animals were being kept lawfully is distinct from what the warrant authorized and how officers handled the animals.
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Why was Peanut euthanized, and did he have rabies?
DEC and Chemung County officials said Peanut and Fred were euthanized so they could be tested for rabies after Peanut bit a wildlife biologist through gloves during the seizure, according to incident records reviewed by AP. Chemung County Executive Chris Moss later said both animals tested negative. The negative results were announced after the animals had been euthanized.
A negative result answers whether rabies was detected in the animals tested; it does not by itself show what officials knew about exposure risk when they decided to test. Officials said state and county personnel followed rabies protocols. The available accounts do not provide a court finding on whether euthanasia was required or whether another option was legally available.
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What did records later reveal about the decision?
AP reported in 2025 that DEC had known about the sanctuary since at least January 2024 and that officials received complaints in the months before the seizure. In the records AP reviewed, a county email written before the search said officials expected wild animals in the home would need to be euthanized and sent for rabies testing because of human contact.
The records also describe a state employee contacting a wildlife rehabilitator as a possible temporary placement for Peanut. AP reported that Peanut’s bite during the search led to a final call to a county health official, who reportedly recommended testing as a precaution. Taken together, the accounts indicate that testing had been anticipated and a possible placement had also been considered; they do not establish whether the placement remained available or legally viable at the moment the decision was made.
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AP quoted a county health official’s email after the seizure as saying, “Sad but it has to be done,” followed by, “The poor animals didn’t do anything wrong.” These were lines in an email described in AP’s investigation, not a public statement.
What legal questions remain open?
In its Fall 2024 publication, the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Animals and the Law identified questions prompted by the case, including whether the animals were legally “pets,” whether the sanctuary could harbor them, what the warrant allowed, whether agents were properly trained, and whether their actions were justified. The committee also asked whether quarantine or removal could have been alternatives. These were questions for consideration, not findings by a court.
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The committee’s chair, Kirk Passamonti, described the committee as “a resource for (NYSBA) Members and the Public about non-human, animal-related legal matters and associated humane considerations.” The Fall 2024 publication also noted that a New York assembly member had proposed an amendment called “Peanut’s Law: Humane Animal Protection Act,” described as intended to provide humane treatment and due process for sanctuary animals. The available account does not establish the proposal’s later legislative status.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why did the case become a national controversy?
The case placed several hard questions side by side: whether wild animals could legally be kept at the sanctuary, how broadly the warrant reached, how the bite changed the rabies decision, and whether officials could have used a different course. The reported sequence offers grounds for public scrutiny, particularly because testing had been anticipated and a rehabilitator had been considered. But an anticipated test is not proof that the outcome was predetermined, and the existence of a possible placement is not proof that it was a workable alternative. The sources summarized here establish no final legal judgment resolving those questions.
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The central facts are stark: Peanut and Fred were seized under a wildlife-possession warrant, officials said they were euthanized for rabies testing after the bite, and both tested negative, according to the county executive. The later records complicate the official explanation without settling whether the decision was lawful or what alternatives were available.
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