The facts of the events that led to Peanut's death. DEC officers union says public misled in seizure and death of Peanut the Squirrel https://cbs6albany.com/amp/news/loc...longo-outrage-chemung-county-ny-new-york-wrgb ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) — The union that represents New York State’s Environmental Conservation Officers is speaking out Friday, calling for a “calm” in the wake of the controversial seizure of a pet squirrel and raccoon. The state’s Department of Environmental Conservation has faced nationwide backlash over the recent seizure and euthanasia of Peanut the Squirrel, who had a great following on social media, and Fred, the raccoon, who were owned by Mark Longo. On October 30th, the DEC carried out a search warrant and seized Peanut and Fred at Longo's Chemung County residence because Longo didn’t have the proper licensing to own wild animals. The two animals were then euthanized to test for rabies after the DEC said the squirrel bit a person involved in the investigation. The situation sparked national outrage, and even became a right-wing icon in the 2024 election. Earlier this week, DEC offices across the state were the targets of bomb threats, though state police fell short to confirm it was correlated to Peanut’s case. Now, the PBA of New York State, which represents DEC officers, says the outrage is based on misinformation. “The public has been greatly misled by a barrage of social media messaging that painted a partial picture of the investigation and triggered violent threats fueled by misinformation. Our Environmental Conservation Officers understand and accept that they risk their lives every time they begin a shift, but they should never fear for their safety or that of their family for doing the job they have taken an oath to do. We ask that the public keep in mind that these people are their friends, family, and neighbors and do not deserve to live in fear for upholding the law,” the union wrote in a press release. The release went on to say that the DEC initiated its investigation into Longo in January after receiving complaints from several New York state licensed wildlife rehabilitators alleging Longo was operating an illegal wildlife sanctuary. "Following-up on these complaints an Environmental Conservation Officer contacted Mr. Longo informing him that keeping a squirrel is illegal unless he was a licensed wildlife rehabilitator with the intent of preparing the animal to re-enter nature. Mr. Longo told investigators that the squirrel had been released to the wild. After the warning was issued, complaints continued to be received by DEC, and DEC management ordered an investigation. A DEC Investigator conducted a review of Mr. Longo’s social media accounts which showed that Longo had lied to the investigator and had not released the squirrel into the wild. In addition to keeping the squirrel in violation of the law, Longo also had taken in a raccoon which appeared in social media postings as well. Mr. Longo’s social media posts were the basis for the search warrant issued by a judge,” said the union. Longo had told the media that he was in the middle of acquiring the proper licensing when the seizure occurred without notice. He described it as a raid claiming excessive force was used to seize his beloved Peanut and Fred. The union countered those claims on Friday saying, “In truth there were three uniformed Environmental Conservation Officers who were responsible for securing an 80-acre compound, several plain clothes Investigators who carried out the search pursuant to the warrant, and three DEC wildlife employees who were not police officers.” Though the seizure already ignited global outrage, the uproar took on a new level when it was announced that Peanut and Fred was euthanized. The union claims it wasn’t the DEC’s decision to euthanize the animals, rather the Chemung County Department of Health’s. “After locating the squirrel, it bit one of the DEC civilian wildlife biologists through two pairs of protective gloves. Due to the injury the Chemung County Department of Health was contacted, and the squirrel and raccoon were turned over alive. The Chemung County Department of Health made the determination to humanely euthanize both as it is the only way to test for rabies as rabies testing requires taking a sample of brain matter. While squirrels do not typically carry rabies, the cohabitation with the raccoon (a species known to be a vector for rabies) opened the possibility of animal-to-animal transmission which placed the wildlife biologist in potential danger. This was unfortunate, but the decision was not made by the Environmental Conservation Officers, Investigators or DEC wildlife biologists participating in the service of this warrant,” said the union.