P\u2019Nut wants payback.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The beloved pet squirrel and his raccoon sidekick, Fred, were not euthanized \u2013 they were viciously executed by New York authorities, according to a blistering new lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Oct. 30, a swarm of cops and agents from the state Environmental Conservation and Health departments descended on Mark Longo\u2019s upstate Pine City animal sanctuary.<\/p>\n
P\u2019Nut was slaughtered \u201cnot due to a fear of rabies\u201d \u2013 but as a \u201csenseless act of violence\u201d and \u201cobscene demonstration of government abuse,\u201d the lawsuit charges. \u00a0 P\u0092Nut the Squirrel\/ Instagram<\/p>\n
The two animals were living peacefully inside Longo\u2019s home, but it is illegal to keep squirrels and raccoons as pets in New York, where they\u2019re classified as wild animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the raid, DEC officials claimed, P\u2019Nut bit one of its agents through thick leather gloves, which required the state to euthanize and decapitate the animals in order to test their brain tissue for rabies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later, the state admitted the rabies tests were both negative \u2013 but it has never apologized nor returned the bodies of either pet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The episode, which occurred just before the presidential election, was decried by outraged animal lovers and conservatives alike as a vicious example of governmental overreach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Longo and his wife, Daniela Bittner, doubled down in a 40-page lawsuit filed Friday in Chemung County Supreme Court.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
P\u2019Nut and Fred were slaughtered \u201cnot due to a fear of rabies\u201d \u2013 but as a \u201csenseless act of violence\u201d and \u201cobscene demonstration of government abuse,\u201d the documents charge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mark Longo and his wife, Daniela Bittner, doubled down in a 40-page lawsuit filed Friday in Chemung County Supreme Court.\u00a0\u00a0 LP Media<\/p>\n
The suit alleges the bite never happened \u2013 and if it did, the agent should have been vaccinated against the disease, and trained in the safe handling of animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that none of these factors came into play demonstrates one of two things \u2013 that there was in fact no bite, and this story was fabricated, or, if there was a bite, that it was due strictly to the defendants\u2019 own incompetence,\u201d the court filing states.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Longo and Bittner said their demands for the animals\u2019 remains have been ignored, and that their killings exceeded the scope of the search warrant executed that day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our opportunity to make change and seek justice for P\u2019Nut and Fred,\u201d Longo told The Post. P\u0092Nut the Squirrel\/ Instagram<\/p>\n
The couple has suffered emotional trauma and financial losses since losing their star squirrel, who had become an Internet celebrity, appearing in social media posts, OnlyFans content, Cameos and other monetized media, according to the lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n