New York Republicans Push ‘Peanut’s Law’ To Prevent Repeat of Killing of Furry Social Media Sensation

Lawmakers at Albany, acting in the name of a pet squirrel named Peanut put down after allegedly biting an animal control officer, are pushing a law to prevent animals seized by the state from being promptly euthanized without an administrative hearing.The legislation, known as Peanut’s Law: The Humane Animal Protection Act, is designed to prevent a repeat of the tragic end to the viral social media sensation Peanut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon, who were seized by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and euthanized in October to be tested for rabies — which tests later showed they did not have. The owners of Peanut, Mark and Daniela Longo, were joined at the state Capitol on Tuesday by a Republican Assemblyman, Jake Blumencranz, as they sought to rally support for the bill. Mr. Longo said, “Passing this law will be a movement to make sure that animal rights are not overlooked anymore.”“After going through this for the last six months, we’ve been [doing] nothing but crying,” he said. “Please take a look at Peanut’s Law. This is something that we need as a community, as a state, and as a government. We need to make changes, and we need to act fast; these tragedies cannot happen again.”Mr. Blumencranz said the “state’s system is broken” and the “people in charge chose red tape over reason.”“But we are here to say never again… [Peanut and Fred] were not dangerous. They were not sick. They were not wild threats roaming the streets. They were rescues — loved, nurtured, and safe,” he said. “Here is the cold, hard truth. It is too little, too late. Words don’t save Peanut and Fred, and words won’t save the next animal or the next family, unless we change the law.”State Republicans are backing the law, which would require the DEC to wait 72 hours for an administrative hearing before animals can be seized or euthanized from wildlife sanctuaries unless there is evidence they pose an immediate threat to human safety. The law was developed after DEC officers searched Mr. Longo’s home in Chemung County in October after allegedly receiving anonymous complaints that Peanut and Fred were being kept illegally and that they were potentially unsafe. Mr. Longo operates an animal refuge, P’NUT’s Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, and was in the process of getting his beloved squirrel certified as an educational animal. Peanut was a social media star with an Instagram account that garnered more than 600,000 followers keen to watch him in videos performing tricks and eating treats, often in a tiny cowboy hat.After the search, the DEC put out a bland statement, saying that its officers “seized a raccoon and squirrel sharing a residence with humans, creating the potential for human exposure to rabies.” The conservation department also alleged that Peanut had bitten one of its officers, requiring that he be euthanized in order to be tested for rabies. Mr. Longo denied the allegation that Peanut had bitten any of the officers and noted that they were wearing thick gloves during the search. Tests later showed that the animals did not have rabies, and Peanut became a symbol of government overreach. In a press release on March 28, a spokeswoman for the DEC, Amanda Lefton, said the agency is implementing changes to “protect New Yorkers and this agency from similar incidents in the future.”“We have carefully reviewed all the public feedback and we understand the distress caused to communities throughout the state,” Ms. Lefton said. “We know that we can do better moving forward.”

New York Republicans Push ‘Peanut’s Law’ To Prevent Repeat of Killing of Furry Social Media Sensation

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