With violent assaults surging across New York, and with many crimes going unprosecuted, state law enforcement firepower has been directed against a truly dangerous criminal adversary: a pet squirrel.
Dan Longo’s beloved pet, Peanut, was seized at his home in Pine City, New York, on October 30. Responding to anonymous reports of “potentially unsafe housing of wildlife,” Elmira’s overly zealous (to put it kindly) animal control officers from the Department of Environmental Conservation showed up at Longo’s home in a convoy of vehicles. The DEC officers, numbering ten in all, forcibly removed Peanut. After Peanut allegedly bit one of the officers, the squirrel was euthanized—ostensibly to test for rabies, though squirrels “almost never get rabies,” according to no less an authority than the New York State Department of Health. But why should we expect state wildlife workers to know such relevant things?
While the officers were raiding Longo’s home, they took the opportunity to grill his wife about her immigration status. Their interest in this matter is surprising, given the state’s usual course of action: illegal immigrants have swarmed into New York for years now and are severely taxing public services, shelter space, and even schools. Violent Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang members “hide in plain sight” in New York City’s migrant shelters. But Longo’s wife: now there’s a woman to watch.
The raid of Longo’s home lasted five hours. Longo said that the experience made him feel “like a drug dealer.” He should be so lucky. New York drug dealers and addicts can ply their trade free from government interference. Indeed, not only are they left largely unmolested across the state, but in many jurisdictions they enjoy taxpayer-funded paraphernalia.
The DEC’s zealous attention to ferreting out lawbreakers stands in marked contrast with New York law enforcement’s approach to other crimes. Tattooed gang members roam New York streets with impunity, New York police appear helpless to deal with dangerous criminal immigrants, and the crime clearance rate is poor: 41.47 percent in New York City as a whole, 29 percent in Manhattan. In 2023, the 126,920 arrests in New York State resulted in only 58,871 convictions—a conviction rate of a dismal 46 percent.
Those few criminals whom the police do manage to arrest are often set free. Sixty-six percent of those released without bail are rearrested within two years. Dantay Moore stabbed and killed a 63-year-old grandmother. Though Moore had 15 prior convictions, he was let back out on the streets to kill. Guy Rivera, who shot and killed NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, had nine prior felony arrests. Alvin Doris punched an 11-year-old and broke his nose. Doris had nine prior arrests, including four previous assault charges. In 2023, 250 people accounted for 2,500 arrests in the city, and 70 percent of the arrestees were repeat offenders.
A 2024 study of New York City crime shows that “categories of violent crime, like assaults, are in the midst of a significant increase,” causing many New Yorkers to have “growing feelings of insecurity in their neighborhoods.”
New York could devote more taxpayer dollars to making communities safer and helping families feel more secure. The state could aggressively assist federal immigration authorities in the removal of dangerous criminals. It could hire more beat cops to curb petty crime and spend more resources on clearing violent cases.
Instead, the government has found a way to make New York families feel even less secure: by demonstrating that the state may now join migrants and felons in invading private homes and harassing citizens. Not one New Yorker will rest easier knowing that the DEC has taken Peanut off the streets. As for the bad guys, they need not lose any sleep.
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