On Wednesday, October 30th, authorities from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forced themselves into the family home of Mark Longo in Pine City, New York in search of Longo's pet squirrel, Peanut.
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Numerous, malicious and anonymous calls to the DEC led authorities to take inhumane actions towards Mark, raiding his home without a warrant while making him wait outside for several hours as they ransacked everything, seizing Peanut, and another wildlife pet raccoon, Fred: taking both with them.
On Friday, November 1st, the New York State DEC advised the press in a statement that both Peanut and Fred had been euthanized while being tested for rabies, claiming that P'Nut bit someone "involved in the investigation," prompting them to murder the innocent squirrel immediately.
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Their announcement of the decision to end the lives of two innocent animals was not provided to the Longo family first, but instead, the announcement was revealed to the media. In an Instagram post earlier this morning, the Longo family shared a video of Fred, the raccoon, announcing his and P'Nut's unjust ending to their lives, expressing how the DECs's actions in revealing the deaths of the animals to the media before contacting the owners showed a "troubling lack of respect and empathy."
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Longo Family Devastated, the Public Expresses Mixed Emotions
After learning that the DEC had euthanized Peanut and Fred via media outlets, Mark Longo and his wife, Daniela, shared the devastating news on the famed squirrel's Instagram page in a very emotional video post to his followers, advising of Peanut's unnecessary death: the family heartbroken in losing their best friend.
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Mixed emotions from the public have also taken to social media and via news interviews. Many expressed how inhumane the DEC's actions were, furious that PNUT and Fred were euthanized after he lived with the Longo family for seven years happily.
On the other side of the spectrum, a Wildlife Rehabilitator with the Wild Bird Fund who also rehabilitates injured squirrels expressed her thoughts in a CBS News interview:
"People have good intentions. But it is typically illegally and very unethical to keep a wild animal as a pet," she said. They live in trees. That is what they're meant to be in. A tree. Not indoors."
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According to state laws, in order to become the legal owner of any wildlife animal, laws indicate the person must be registered as a wildlife rehabilitator first. In the CBS News interview, Mark expressed that he and his wife were in the process of doing that, and needed "a little bit of guidance" from officials to make it happen.
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Should the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Be Held Accountable for Their Actions?
Mark Longo and his family believe they do, as do many pet owners, animal lovers around the world, and some government officials. The way the DEC handled their approach while confiscating two innocent animals; the amount of manpower they arrived with to seize them, and the way they treated Mark and his family while raiding his home for several hours, needs to be brought to the forefront. No animal, wild or domestic, should be killed by anyone when they are causing no harm.
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On the DEC's website, they announce their "mission" very clearly. That mission does not entail in any way the seizing and erroneous euthanization of wildlife pets or animals of any kind. It is the opinion of this journalist that they overstepped their boundaries, removing two innocent animals from a safe and secure home, and ending both of their lives unjustly.
Mission: "To conserve, improve and protect New York's natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being."
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With so many more urgent crises happening across the globe, agencies such as the DEC need to reevaluate their priorities on what is important, and what is not. State lawmakers also need to reinforce what said agencies can and cannot do in terms of the 'laws.' Ripping apart a family's bond with their beloved wildlife pets due to malicious complaints from the public is not a matter of urgency, it's heartless, cruel, and unnecessary.