Are you an animal lover? Maybe you see your home as a refuge for rescued pets such as dogs from puppy mills or cats who wander through your yard. In the US, the clear favorite among pets is dogs—millions of homes are shared with canines of various breeds. Cats, fish, birds of certain species, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, Guinea pigs, small reptiles, and even ferrets are popular companions in homes nationwide.
But what happens when your pet isn’t a friendly golden retriever or a sleepy tabby cat? A New York man recently learned the hard way when his pet squirrel and raccoon were confiscated from his home and euthanized.
Meet Peanut, the squirrel TikTok star, and his raccoon friend, Fred
34-year-old Mark Longo of rural Pine City, New York, had been caring for PNUT (also called P’Nut or Peanut) the squirrel for seven years. Unlike a typical squirrel, Peanut was a TikTok star. Longo took in Peanut when Peanut’s mother was hit by a car in New York City. TikTok users were treated to cute videos of Longo’s fluffy-tailed friend wearing tiny hats, doing tricks, and occasionally eating waffles.
The story doesn’t end there. Longo was also caring for a raccoon named Fred. Someone left Fred on Longo’s doorstep a few months ago and Longo was nursing the animal back to health following some injuries. He planned to release Fred into the woods when he recovered.
But one day a few weeks ago, there was a knock at Longo’s door. It was the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, saying they had received reports that he was engaging in, “potentially unsafe housing of wildlife that could carry rabies and the illegal keeping of wildlife as pets.”
The DEC raided Longo’s residence, which he calls an animal sanctuary, without a search warrant. When they left, they took Peanut and Fred with them.
Longo’s animal sanctuary is also home to 300 other animals, including horses, goats and alpacas.
Longo later learned that the DEC and the county department of health had euthanized Peanut and Fred, claiming they needed to test the animals for rabies. He has vowed to take legal action against the state of New York and the county for the seizure and euthanization of Peanut and Fred, though it’s not yet clear what his action will be.
Can you file a lawsuit against the government for seizing pets?
The law will depend on the state and local jurisdiction. Usually, there are strict regulations for ownership of wild animals as pets. These regulations vary and it’s important to know the regulations in your municipality before you consider a wild animal as a pet.
If you’re filing a lawsuit against a government agency for a wild animal-related claim, here are some factors to consider:
- Ownership rights and permits. Many states require a special permit to own certain wild animals. Mark Longo indicated that he was in the midst of applying for a certification for Peanut to be an educational animal.
Some wild animals may be prohibited as pets entirely, regardless of permits, due to public health or safety concerns. - Government authority for public health and safety. The government typically has authority to seize animals deemed dangerous to public health or safety. If they’ve seized the animal under these grounds, they may argue that it’s within their rights to do so.
There are also laws that govern when a wild animal can be seized if they are thought to be kept in inappropriate conditions since standards of care for wild animals are stricter than for house pets. - Constitutional claims and the owner’s rights. You have a right to due process. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution guarantee due process, which means the government must follow certain procedures before it may deprive a person of their life, liberty or property.
You might be able to argue that your property rights were violated if the government seized the animal without due process. This could involve showing that you were not given notice or an opportunity to contest the seizure.
The Fifth Amendment includes a “Takings Clause,” under which the government must provide compensation if it takes private property for public use. The courts don’t always apply this in wild animal cases, however. In Longo’s case, the animals were not taken for public use, though it might be argued that it was for public safety if the officials had reason to believe the animals had rabies or were otherwise unsafe. - Civil rights lawsuit. In some cases, you may be able to file a civil rights lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming unlawful seizure if your rights were infringed without proper legal procedure.
Legal remedies for seizure of a pet
There are two types of legal relief. First, you could request the court to issue an injunction. Injunctive relief stops the government from removing the pet or orders its return. In Longo’s case, this is not applicable since the animals were already euthanized.
Second, you could request compensation or damages for the loss. If the animal isn’t returned, the owner could seek to be compensated for the value of the animal. In most states, a pet is considered personal property, and it’s therefore assigned a financial value in a claim related to the loss of a pet.
Usually, the court looks at fair market value based on the pet’s breed, age, pedigree, and purchase price. Obviously, this is nearly impossible to calculate when it’s a rescued wild animal.
There’s also compensation for special or intrinsic value, which means courts may also consider if the pet has unique training, skills, or abilities that contribute to its value. For example, a highly trained service animal, therapy pet, or show animal may have a significantly higher intrinsic value. If Longo was earning money from his TikTok videos starring Peanut, Peanut’s loss might result in financial losses for Longo.
Typically, a court does not award damages for emotional or sentimental value since a pet is legally classified as property. An owner might claim their pet was a “companion animal” but it’s difficult for the court to quantify this financially.
In rare instances, a court might recognize a “loss of companionship” claim if an animal is wrongfully injured or killed, but this is unusual and different states have different statues for this. There’s a possibility in some states that a pet owner could claim punitive damages if the injury or harm to the pet was intentional and involved egregious conduct.
What states allow or prohibit raccoons as pets?
| These states allow raccoon ownership with permits, licenses, or other specific requirements: | These states strictly prohibit keeping raccoons as pets because they are wild animals that cannot be domesticated: |
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Whether or not Longo can be compensated for the loss of Peanut and Fred has yet to be determined. It’s unlikely he will make a successful claim for Fred (the raccoon) since it is illegal in New York to have a raccoon as a pet.
However, he might be able to claim that his Constitutional rights to due process and against unlawful search and seizure were violated. This remains to be seen, and likely the story of Peanut and Fred isn’t over yet.