Peanut the Squirrel was more than just a social media sensation. He was also the namesake of an animal rescue run by the New York couple that adopted him.
Last year, Mark and Daniele Longo opened P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, “a haven where neglected and homeless animals receive a second chance at life” named after their pet squirrel, who they rescued seven years ago. The sanctuary, which they say has helped 350 animals, was made possible in a large part by donations gathered through Peanut’s viral social media accounts.
Now that Peanut has been euthanized by New York State, Mark Longo worries the sanctuary may be in trouble.
“We’ve relied heavily on PNUT and his internet family to gather donations to help more animals,” Longo wrote on Instagram. “I don’t even know how [we] will continue to fundraise for this nonprofit.”
Longo says he is uncertain why the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) chose to seize and euthanize Peanut after seven years, during which time there had been no complaints about Peanut. But according to Center For Consumer Freedom Managing Director Will Coggin, the DEC’s actions are inline with the misguided approach of the animal welfare movement.
“The death of Peanut appears to track with a broader trend in the animal rights movement of killing animals,” Coggin told The Daily Wire. “Sadly, many of these people have a ‘better dead than fed’ mentality.”
Coggin pointed to one “shocking” case of Maya the Chihuahua, who PETA employees allegedly took from a Virginia family’s front porch and euthanized.
Maya’s owner, Wilbur Cerate, told WAVY at the time that security footage from his home shows two women exiting a PETA van that pulls up to his property, putting Maya in the van, and driving away. Cerate told WAVY that the women returned three days later with “a fruit basket and terrible news — Maya had been euthanized.”
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Accomack County Sheriff Todd Godwin charged the workers with larceny, but the local commonwealth’s attorney dropped the charge.
According to Coggin, Peanut and Maya are just two of many animals who have suffered such fates.
“PETA euthanized 79% of the dogs and cats it took in last year at its ‘shelter,’ which state inspectors likened to a ‘euthanasia clinic,’” Coggin said.
Though PETA has national recognition, Center For Consumer Freedom data suggests that it’s smaller animal rescues like P’Nuts Freedom Farm that do the majority of actual rescuing.
The group found that PETA only adopted 58 animals in 2022, a 2.1% adoption rate. The nearby Norfolk Animal Care & Adoption Center, it said, took in 4,337 animals that year, and had a euthanasia rate of just 10%.
