Owner of Peanut the Squirrel gives update after NY authorities seize animal

• On October 30, Mark Longo, the owner of social media star Peanut the squirrel, shared that the animal was seized by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• Since the seizure, a fundraiser for Peanut has raised over $7,000 to help cover legal expenses to fight for the animal’s return to Longo
• Longo shared an update on the situation with Peanut’s more than 500,000 Instagram followers on Nov. 1.

The owner of beloved squirrel influencer Peanut has given an update on the social media star after state authorities seized the animal in New York.

Peanut, who boasts 535,000 followers on Instagram and 423,000 on Facebookwas seized by officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, according to a declaration made by the squirrel’s owner, Mark Longo, on the official Peanuts Instagram account on Wednesday, October 30.

In a follow-up post shared on Friday, Nov. 1, Longo thanked fans of Peanut, whose name is also spelled P’Nut or PNUT, for their support and said there’s a “small chance” he may get your pet back.

“I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for everyone coming together on this,” Longo began in the video. “I have not received any update on Peanut. We are still in the same waiting phase.”

Longo then continued, “But while we wait, we still have to focus on our non-profit animal rescue, so I can’t thank you all enough for the love and support. It’s been a terrible nightmare for me, but we still have 300 animals to take care of, so if you can keep signing the petition and donating if you can, it really means a lot to us.”

“Thank you for sticking with us and my family. We love you all, please keep spreading the word and let’s get Peanut back,” he concluded.

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“We can’t thank you all enough for the great support,” Longo captioned the video. “There is a small chance we can get him back home so please keep signing the petition (LINK IN BIO) I will keep everyone updated. We LOVE you all.”

Longo’s update comes a day after he said in a video wrote on October 31 that he did not know whether Peanut “was alive or not.”

“I just want to say thank you so much for all the support you have shown me and my wife. This is an absolute tragedy and I pray we still have a chance,” he shared in another Instagram posts same day.

In his Oct. 30 post revealing that Peanut had been taken from his home, Longo said he was “in shock, disbelief and disgusted with the people who did this to PNUT.”

“Today at 10 am Wednesday October 30, 2024… NY State DEC showed up to my house and took Peanut. He was taken to EUTHANIZED,” he said in the statement, referring to Peanut as his “best friend” for the last seven years.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, the DEC said it conducted an investigation after “several reports from the public about the potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets.”

The statement added that “DEC’s investigation is ongoing and additional information will be provided as it becomes available.”

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In addition to Peanut, the DEC seized an injured raccoon named Fred, according to Associated Press. Longo had had the animal for a few months and had hoped to release it back into the wild.

According to the outlet, Longo took Peanut in after seeing the rodent’s mother get hit by a car, and their bond is what inspired him to start P’Nut’s Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in April 2023.

Since Peanut was seized, Longo helped create a Change.org petition and one GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help “cover legal fees for lawyers who will help us repair the damage caused and ensure Peanut’s return to his loving home.”

At publication, the fundraiser had raised over $7,000 of its $15,000 goal.