Peanut The Squirrel Owner Rips New York For Seizing And Killing A Social Media Star

The owners of a pet squirrel, with a huge social media following, are going nuclear against government officials in New York… accusing the state of abusing power and wasting taxpayer money to seize and kill Peanut, all because of some anonymous claims.

Mark Longo and his wife, Danielajoined us on “TMZ Live” on Friday to share their outrage over what they felt was a grave injustice… and it got emotional.

Mark tells us that officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation showed up at his door on Wednesday with a search warrant signed by four government agencies and a judge… treating him like a criminal as they raided his home looking for Peanut.

He says the police wouldn’t even let him use his own bathroom unescorted during the raid… and he couldn’t feed his horses… until authorities left with Peanut.

Mark says his wife was questioned about her immigration status during the search… and one of their pet raccoons was taken. Both Peanut and the raccoon have since been euthanized as a result of rabies testing.

Honestly, it all sounds ridiculous… and Mark says Peanut happily lived with him for seven years, spreading joy on the Internet with funny and wholesome videos, and becoming his best friend in the process.

Even though it’s technically illegal to have a pet squirrel in New York, Mark says he wasn’t hiding Peanut — the squirrel has 532,000 followers on IG and more than 1,400 posts — and he says anonymous complaints about Peanut lead to government agencies to obtain a search warrant to snatch the animal from his home and kill it.

Fighting back tears and with a clear sense of anger in his voice, Mark tells us that it is inconceivable that the state is so concerned about a pet squirrel that he says did not harm anyone… and he thinks that it is an example of everything that is broken in our country. .

Mark says Peanut was the cornerstone of his family and his non-profit animal rescue, P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary …and he doesn’t know how to go on without his squirrel friend.