Do you know who Fred and Peanut are?
They were clean, healthy, happy, and loved animals. They were family members. They were ripped from their family and home on October 30, 2024 by strangers in the Department of Environmental Conservation and then they were senselessly killed.
Imagine for a moment, animals who you dearly love being traumatized and frightened at the strangers in your home upsetting you, resulting in your crying, screaming, pleading… and then these scary people go after your sweet, innocent ones.
They capture them, take them away, and you can’t tell your animal friends anything, you can’t ease their fears, you can’t save them. You watch them being stolen from your life and home, and they are going to be murdered in cold blood by people in a strange place. This is their last memories… and yours with them.”
“Why is this happening? Where is my family to love me and help me?”
The excuses for murdering them include, but are not limited to:
•Illegal to own – Okay, we’re going to throw this out there, is it possible that the smaller (I’m not referring to lions, for example who may escape enclosures) wild animals are safer to the general public, when kept indoors or with their humans every moment where they haven’t a chance of becoming rabid to attack multiple humans and domesticated animals… or crossing the road and causing an accident? NEWSFLASH: If animals don’t encounter other animals with rabies, they can’t get rabies!!
•Kept without proper registration (not a wildlife rehabilitator in NY where Fred & Peanut lived) – Hmmm, either this is so officials can track down the possible owner of a pack of loose critters, or obtain more revenue) The same risks apply to rehabilitators, and sometimes an animal may not be suited to survive outdoors and kept permanently because they become loved and wanted kept safe.
•We had to kill them to test for rabies because Peanut allegedly bit someone during the raid. – Question: What was Peanut and Fred’s fate beforehand? Alrighty, now we’re going to throw this out there: Think of the hours of stress these animals (and their human parents were under) experienced because of those strangers invading their home. There are few beings, human or animal, that won’t attack or defend themselves when they are terribly frightened. Hell, the domesticated dog whose never bitten anyone may very well bite under the stress of a home raid! I watched a video about a cat attacking a burglar, just sayin’ – here:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cat+attacks+robber
What if you save a life, then virtually every rehabilitator in your state (province or territory), and all surrounding states, are at or beyond capacity? No one will take this animal you’ve rescued. I guess you’re expected to take a helpless baby (or grown & injured) animal (“that is illegal to own”) back out to the cold where it will be frightened, freeze, starve, and/or be shredded alive by coyotes, wolves, or birds of prey, and then suffer until death.
*Thank you, rehabilitators, for what you do.
Longo first took in Peanut seven years ago when he found the squirrel as a baby. Longo saw Peanut’s mother get hit by a car and die, so Longo took Peanut in when he couldn’t find a rescue organization that would take him. At first, it was meant to be temporary so that Peanut could go back to living outdoors when he was able, but Longo told USA TODAY in 2022 that Peanut didn’t do well when he was released and got injured trying to live outdoors, so Longo brought him back in.
*From a USAToday story. It’s an informative read that also mentions the squirrel rescue land. Click HERE to read more.
What would anyone with a heart do here? He did the noble thing in my opinion.
Let’s say you found a baby raccoon, skunk, bobcat, squirrel, wild rabbit, or hawk. It’s so cold outside and there are coyotes or wolves lurking at night, and birds of prey during the day. The motherless baby can’t eat on it’s own. If you leave it out overnight you know it will starve, freeze, get ripped to shreds and eaten, and one way or the other definitely suffer and die if you don’t help. You have to live with yourself, you know. You can let nature take it’s course… but should you? Can you sleep in your warm bed while picturing it in the dark, alone, cold, scared?
Now, what if the covid rules set by others are in place (or even if it’s any other time). You call 14 wildlife rehabilitators. You’re willing to drive the baby across state lines so that it may be helped (legally). Only two people return your calls and the story is the same: They are at or above capacity, no one can be around each other so everyone is short of needed help. They are up all hours feeding tiny babies, they also don’t have enough space, funding/donations, and have spent some of their own money to supply food for these helpless animals.
Guess what. You have a decision to make. It’s the same one as before, except now, in waiting for calls and help, you have spent days with this baby, bonding with it and seeing it has a huge personality. But, you aren’t supposed to keep it. Do you set it outside to suffer and die along with a piece of your newly attached heart?
In my eyes, this family and many others in a similar situation should have the freedom to keep an animal whom they love safe and happy. I understand some rules need to be set. After all, many people are idiots and can be heartless. We can’t just have anyone possessing any animal they choose, but truly, situations need to be considered on a circumstantial basis. For example:
•What are the conditions in which the individual obtained the animal(s)?
•Is the person in possession of the animal(s) of sound mind and rationally intelligent?
•Does there appear to be love for the creauture(s)?
•Does the individual have financial means for basic care or medical emergencies (if applicable)?
•Is the environment kept clean for the animal(s)?
•Barring the unforeseen, is/are the animal(s) safe from potential danger and appear well-fed and cared for?
I believe these should be considered for the sake of the animal/human family. What do you think, and did I leave out other factors that should be considered?
Thank you Rob and Elon:
From: https://www.reddit.com/r/meme/comments/1ghikcd/justice_for_peanut/
The following clip beginning from about 2 minutes, 50 seconds in until about 7 minutes, 30 seconds in really emphasizes a sad state of affairs when law and regulations are so black and white.
FRED AND PEANUT ARE NOT THE ONLY ANIMALS THAT HAVE BEEN STOLEN FROM THEIR FAMILIES AND MURDERED, AND THEY’RE NOT THE ONLY ANIMALS MURDERED FOR “REASONS” WITH WHICH WE WOULD DISAGREE.
In regard to justice for animals, we’re going to share some photos from Lil’ Murph’s trip to the pet store with me. Each and every enclosure in these places is cruel in size, but please take a look at this:
This… this is another one that hits me hard – The Wall of Woe:
Why do they get so many? These animals are depressed! They’ve nothing to do, no mental stimulation, nowhere to swim, hide… nothing. They can do no thing. Betta fish are very intelligent fish. They should have no less than a 5 gallon-sized tank each. And maybe the pet stores should have no more than 10 Betta fish available at any given time. People aren’t buying Betta fish to the extent that there should be a wall of imprisoned individuals like this!! I’m pissed! What can I do? I don’t know what to do. How do people go about making a change such as this on a large scale? Scale… that worked out. I want to start a movement to end this stupid sh**. Shall we call it “Scales for Justice?” Something like that? Nothing should live like this, this is sick, evil, cruel, dumb, and avoidable!!!
I don’t have to explain myself. But I will just a bit. Maybe I’m drawn and feel strongly attached to the scaly animals because I’m a Pisces and my Chinese Zodiac animal is a snake. Since I was small, I have admired all creatures. I capture and release insects… not because I’m noble or some crap, but because it feels very wrong to kill innocent beings. A spider can’t change that it’s a spider anymore than I can change my own skin. I killed a few insects before I got a bit more sense, but mostly I appreciated them. I was a kid, kids are weird. As an adult (ish), it doesn’t matter if it’s a spider, ant or wasp… I’m taking it outside. If anyone wants to know the best way to humanely trap gnats or save ladybugs and more without injuring them, let me know.😁
I feel such a connection with lizards, first and foremost, and fish, snakes, and the exotic and unordinary. Everything is beautiful, but to these, I am tied.
Short version of a story: JEREMIAH THE BETTA FISH
Jeremiah was a blue and purple betta who got so excited to see his new family that he (or possibly she) could barely swim. This was not food-related glee. This was uncontainable joy in companionship. Don’t believe me? Don’t care. I (we) all know what we saw. I had to move Jeremiah into a room where he wouldn’t be alone hardly at all.
One night, I felt Death in the room as I have felt before. I knew it was the final night with sweet Jeremiah. So, I sat up with my head against Jeremiah’s tank. I was going to sleep sitting up there all night. It was going to suck, but I was not going to leave Jeremiah alone.
The tank was on a short table in that small kitchen. When someone entered the kitchen to fix a sandwich, I left the room. As I stated, it was an awfully small kitchen, and Jeremiah wasn’t alone in there. I would be returning as soon as the sandwich-maker had gone.
Around 10 minutes had passed when I re-entered the kitchen as the other person walked out.
Little Jeremiah with the gigantic heart and personality to match passed away while I was gone. Jeremiah was swimming and staring at me just moments ago. Do you realize what happened? I wasn’t going to let Jeremiah die alone, and Jeremiah wasn’t going to allow departure with me by his side. I always loved fish and felt there was more there than meets the eye, but Jeremiah taught me that fish have feelings too. And I adore them. Each one is an individual with a personality just like every person, dog, cat, and every creature on Earth.
If one wanted to bring God into the equation, last time I checked, “Thou shalt not kill.” had no stipulations, no fine print at the bottom, nor did it specify who or what not to kill. We assume humans, but is that all?
What do you think about all of this, Murph?
Yup.
“Give me Lizardry or give me Death!” – ❤️Murph & Dawn
LizardPlanet.com 
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