OPINION:
As the electoral dust settles, desks will soon begin clearing out in Washington and in statehouses around the country. In a heavily Democratic state such as New York, however, it’s going to take something bigger than an election to spur change. And that might turn out to be a squirrel.
Over the weekend, millions were appalled by the fate of Peanut, a squirrel unceremoniously put to death last week by apparatchiks from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. A judge signed a search warrant for the squirrel, which authorized agents of the state to raid the home of his owners, Mark Longo and his wife, Daniela.
Mr. Longo raised the squirrel from his youth, having found it after a road accident killed his mother seven years ago. Peanut gained notoriety by performing tricks in videos posted to TikTok and Instagram, with social media accounts amassing over 1 million followers. Humorless state officials pointed to a law being violated as justification for their violent intervention.
Of all the people to assault on a charge of harboring an unsanctioned rodent, Mr. Longo is an odd choice. He runs P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, a nonprofit animal refuge in Pine City. Tucked away in a rural part of the Empire State, this organization rescues neglected horses from the glue factory, pigs from the slaughterhouse and other random animals such as alpacas that their former owners no longer found useful.
The squirrel’s notoriety helped raise money to cover the considerable expense of tending to the 300 animal refugees granted asylum on the farm. It’s not clear how a tame indoor squirrel owned by someone with experience in tending to a variety of critters is a threat to anyone. Mr. Longo determined several years ago that Peanut hadn’t developed the instincts needed to survive in the wild, which is why he kept the squirrel at home.
“This state has more problems than a squirrel and a raccoon, and we’re using taxpayer dollars to take these animals out of a comfortable place, all because of some paperwork,” Mr. Longo told TMZ. “This needs to be used as an example of how this state uses their resources and their power.”
Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio took note Sunday, saying: “The same government that doesn’t care about hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrant criminals coming into our country doesn’t want us to have pets. It’s the craziest thing.”
He hopes the case will be a catalyst for change.
New York City alone is home to over 3 million rats, a legitimate threat to public health. Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse are also on a list Orkin released last month ranking America’s most rat-infested cities based on the number of times exterminators had to be called.
Rather than deal with vermin infestation, the public safety bureaucracy decided to make an example out of Mr. Longo. Most likely, one of them solemnly intoned the words “Who does he think he is?” in the committee meetings required to decide that dispatching nearly a dozen law enforcement officers was necessary to show this pet-harboring outlaw who’s boss.
This attitude has to change. Proper governance requires setting the right priorities, and going after a healthy social media squirrel while rats spread disease is a sign the problem isn’t in Pine City. The rats are in Albany.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.