The owners of an internet-famous squirrel say New York officials committed a “senseless act of violence” when they seized and killed the animal — and they now want $10 million in damages.
Mark Longo and Daniela Bittner filed a claim last week in the New York Court of Claims over the October 2024 deaths of P’Nut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon, both of whom had lived in the couple’s Pine City home. The suit names the state, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and the Department of Health (DOH) as defendants, accusing them of government abuse and wrongful killing of the animals. News of the lawsuit did not widely break until the weekend.
State environmental officers and health officials raided the couple’s property on October 30, 2024, after allegedly receiving complaints about illegal possession of wild animals. Officials claimed P’Nut bit an agent through thick leather gloves during the seizure, prompting rabies testing, Newsweek reported. Both animals were euthanized and decapitated for testing, but the state later confirmed the results were negative.
“It’s not due to a fear of rabies,” the couple’s court filing reportedly says, calling the killings an “obscene demonstration of government abuse,” per the New York Post.
This language was reportedly similar to the verbiage used by the couple in a separate lawsuit relating to the same matter, filed a few days earlier, that seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
P’Nut had amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, appearing in videos wearing miniature costumes, eating waffles, and riding on Longo’s shoulder. His death, just days before the November 5, 2024, Presidential election, became one of the most-shared stories online that weekend, sparking widespread condemnation and memes that linked the incident to libertarian critiques of government overreach, The Dallas Express reported at the time.
PETA later issued a statement criticizing the state’s handling of the seizure. “There is always a humane solution, and it’s a pity that New York officials didn’t find one here,” spokeswoman Catie Cryar said, adding that the group lamented the loss of the animals after years in a family environment, per DX.
Longo has said he rescued P’Nut as an orphaned squirrel in New York City and was working to obtain licensing to keep the animal as an educational exhibit when the raid occurred. New York law generally prohibits keeping squirrels and raccoons as pets without permits.
Squirrels rarely carry rabies and have never been known to transmit it to humans, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The DOH and DEC declined to comment on the latest litigation, according to the New York Post.