Courtesy Mark Longo via AP, File
Justice for P’Nut the Squirrel and Fred the Raccoon!
The two furry victims, adored by audiences online, were heartlessly euthanized after the state Department of Environmental Conservation raided the home of their owners, Mark and Danelia Longo of Pine City.
The DEC initially claimed the euthanization was necessary — that the panicked P’Nut chomped the finger of an agent during the nutso hours-long raid, and testing for rabies requires decapitation.
But the agency plainly spun that tail, er, tale, to squeak free of the loud and swift public backlash.
That account has now proved a fat fib: On Tuesday, The Post reported that the DEC was already planning on having poor P’Nut and Fred put down before the raid.
Does the agency have nothing better to do than send 10 agents to chase down critters that look like Disney supporting characters? Is this how hard-working New Yorkers want their tax money spent?
Fact is, the state has been squirrely about the whole incident: The DEC made Post reporters jump through hoops for what should have been easily accessible public information, like the rabies test results, and Gov. Hochul’s office declined multiple requests for comment.
Spoiler: When The Post finally learned the results (from the county, not the DEC), it turned out P’Nut and Fred were rabies-free — never a danger in the first place to big, tough DEC agents or anyone else.
So the only rabid characters here were the state goons who went rushing into a home with the goal of mercilessly offing two beloved pets — and then lied about it.
P’Nut and Fred’s deaths are tragic for animal-lovers everywhere, but the state’s dishonest dodging and obfuscation is the real scandal.
It’s just the behavior you’d expect from bureaucrats: Overreact, make a mess and then scurry to cover it up.
They typically get away with it: Will the Legislature even look into this outrage?
If P’Nuts’ killers do go scot-free, count it as one more price of New York being a one-party state.