Don’t tread on P.
State Republicans are pushing a invoice that will give animals seized by the federal government a keep of execution after internet-famous P’Nut the Squirrel was decapitated by the federal government final yr.
P’Nut’s grieving house owners Mark and Daniela Longo joined with state Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz (R-Nassau) on the state Capitol Tuesday to unveil “Peanut’s Regulation: The Humane Animal Safety Act” — which might require the Division of Environmental Conservation to attend 72 hours earlier than euthanizing any seized animals.
“I sit right here attempting to not cry, however passing this regulation can be a motion to be sure that animal rights are usually not missed anymore,” an emotional Mark Longo instructed a big crowd gathered on the foot of the Capitol’s Million Greenback Staircase.
“I cherished these animals to demise,” he added, referring to P’Nut and one other pet named Fred the Squirrel that was seized in the identical raid and in addition put down. “And as we speak is a day that we push ahead to be sure that this tragedy by no means occurs once more.”
The proprietor wore a tiny cowboy hat P’Nut had worn in social media posts pinned to his lapel.
The critters have been housed on the Longos’ upstate farm earlier than a DEC raid on Oct. 30, 2024 that officers mentioned was sparked by nameless complaints of animal mistreatment.
The animals’ heads have been lower off by state officers inside hours so their brains may very well be examined for rabies after the frightened squirrel allegedly bit a handler’s leather-based glove — setting off an enormous backlash to the DEC’s habits.
“His demise stopped individuals of their tracks, from the president of the US to the chief justice of the Supreme Courtroom, to celebrities to on a regular basis New Yorkers,” mentioned Assemblyman Blumencranz, who identified that the assessments which price P’Nut and Fred their lives got here again detrimental for rabies.
“They weren’t harmful. They weren’t sick. They weren’t wild threats roaming the streets. They have been rescues — cherished, nurtured, and protected,” he mentioned.
“Right here is the chilly, exhausting fact. It’s too little, too late. Phrases don’t save P’Nut and Fred, and phrases received’t save the subsequent animal, or the subsequent household, except we alter the regulation.”
The invoice would additionally require an administrative listening to earlier than any animals might be seized or euthanized from wildlife sanctuaries, except their is difficult proof of a direct risk to the general public.
Through the announcement Tuesday, Longo and different audio system stood earlier than a lectern adorned with banner emulating the yellow Revolutionary Struggle-era Gadsden flag — with the picture of rattlesnake changed by a squirrel perched atop the phrases “Don’t Tread on Me.”
There was additionally an image of Fred, and considered one of P’Nut in his tiny one-gallon cowboy hat.
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