P'Nut the Squirrel's owner seeking lawsuit after DEC seizure of beloved animal
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) — Mark Longo, the owner of internet sensation P'Nut the Squirrel, is set to seek legal action against those accountable after the Oct. 30th seizure of the squirrel from Longo's home in Pine City.
Longo sat down with 18 New's Jim Turpin on Wednesday, Nov. 13, where he confirmed that a lawsuit is coming and talked about what's next for the sanctuary.
"We are going to...file a lawsuit, and we'll move forward with that, and we'll let everyone know about that when the time is right," Longo said.
The sanctuary is going to continue, despite losing P'Nut, with Longo saying he has a duty to all the other animals on his farm who are like P'Nut.
"We want to stick to the mission that we have with our non-profit," Longo said. "It's going to be hard for me to do this, but I have an obligation to the other animals here, I can't just give up, I can't just pack up and move," he said.
Longo brought awareness to Peanut's Law and hopes it will be passed to make sure the situation that he and his wife went through doesn't happen to anyone ever again.
Peanut's Law was devised by Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz of the 15th Assembly District in Long Island. The law would ensure humane treatment and due process for sanctuary animals in New York while strengthening animal rights, and animal sanctuary protections, and safeguarding public safety.
Longo's appearance on 18 News comes one day after Chemung County Executive Chris Moss held a news conference laying out a timetable of events leading up to the DEC raid and seizure of P'Nut and Fred the Raccoon.
At the conference, Moss confirmed what Longo and many others already suspected in that the rabies results for P'Nut and Fred the Raccoon came back negative.
Longo is still reeling from the raid on his home, saying there are things left from it that will be there for a long time.
"It's tough, ya know, we have a stain in our bathroom caused by the DEC, and I'm going to have to look at that one until I pull up the carpet," Longo said. "Ya know, I walk in there and I cry every day," he said.
To Longo, P'Nut wasn't just a squirrel, but his best friend, and a huge reason his sanctuary grew into what it is today. Longo explained that P'Nut's social media presence paid for much of the sanctuary's expenses. Taking care of more than 300 animals isn't cheap with Longo saying expenses reach around $25,000 to keep them safe and healthy.
Toward the end of the interview, Longo was asked if he believed in the investigation that was going on at the DEC into the incident and Longo said no.
The full interview with Mark Longo will air on Talk of the Tiers on Sunday, Nov. 17, on channel 18 with the VOD available next week.