Internet Sleuths Found The Person Who Ratted On Beloved New York Squirrel

Internet Sleuths Were Hard at Work

It's been a few weeks since the nation was captivated (and very troubled) over the euthanization of Peanut the Squirrel and Fred the Racoon, two wild animals that were rescued and kept as fully-trained and beloved pets in Upstate New York.

In early November, Mark Longo, the owner of the Instagram-famous squirrel Peanut, took to social media to reveal that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation had euthanized Peanut and his pet raccoon, Fred.

Peanut's Instagram account, run by Longo, has almost a million followers. For years, the highly trained and beloved squirrel lived his best life at Longo's Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, an animal refuge in Pine City, New York, about three hours southwest of Albany, past Binghamton.

Both Pets Euthanized by NYS DEC

Longo claims that the DEC performed a welfare check on the animals, and in the process, one of their employees was bit by Peanut, prompting the DEC to euthanize both of his pets to test for rabies.

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After Peanut and Fred were euthanized by the New York State DEC, angry internet sleuths made threats to the DEC demanding answers and, while doing some digging, found a Texas woman who may have ratted out Longo's pets.

Who Ratted Out Peanut?

One internet sleuth named Madeline Marie posted this video a few weeks back on her socials, and it's since gone viral.  In the post, Marie claims that a Texas woman named Monica Keasler contacted the DEC about Longo's pets, which may have started their investigation.

Marie's post also says that Keasler "bragged about it" on social media, but the Texas photographer deleted it shortly after.

However, Keasler denied the allegations and spoke out a few weeks back on a podcast, saying that she contacted the DEC and filed an open records request to inquire whether her name was involved in the investigation into Peanut.

According to the source, she received an email from the NYS DEC stating that Keasler had never called or complained about the animal, adding to her claim that she said she was never “in any way, shape, or form” involved in reporting Peanut to authorities.

Regardless of who turned in Longo, the DEC's actions sparked outrage, and Longo said he had had Peanut for seven years without complaints and treated the squirrel like a celebrity.

He also noted that the DEC treated him like a terrorist and ransacked his home for five hours. Longo has asked fans for financial help for a legal battle and his nonprofit, P'Nut's Freedom Farm.