PINE CITY, N.Y. (WENY) -- After Peanut the squirrel and Fred the raccoon were seized and euthanized on October 30, their owners chose to take legal action. On Wednesday morning, they contacted WENY News, saying they had filed a Notice of Claims to start the process.

Mark Longo and his wife, Daniela, have filed a Notice of Claims against multiple local and state agencies. Not only do they say it's a case of animal rights violations, but humans too. In the document, the Claimants state that several of their state and federal constitutional rights were violated on the day the animals were seized from their home.

Among other claimed violations, Longo says he and his wife were not granted due process throughout the last several months in regard to having Peanut and Fred.

After the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) came to the Longo residence in October, Mark claims he and Daniela's house in Pine City was torn apart, their companion animals were killed, and they were treated unfairly by state officials.

The animals were seized and euthanized on October 30 to test for rabies. Those tests came back negative for both animals.

"We want to know how these procedures were, you know, how they failed," said Mark Longo, Peanut and Fred's owner and the owner of P'Nut's Freedom Farm and Animal Sanctuary. "Why was I asked about cameras in my house? Why was I detained for five hours without being arrested? Why was my wife's immigration status questioned? You know, why didn't I get due process? Why was I silenced? Why was I intimidated not to use my phone?"

The Notice of Claims indicate pending legal action against the New York State Attorney General's Office, NYSDEC, the State Department of Health, along with Chemung County, the County Health Department, Elmira Police Department, and Elmira Animal Control.

The document states that the Longo's claim their First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated back in October.

"I don't want to take away the focus on Fred and Peanut," said Longo. "The justice is for these animals and, moving forward to make sure, but that's a big thing for us is, I've never been in trouble before. I've never been in the face of the law before, and then to have nine people and six of them have guns show up to your house and detain you and falsely arrest you for five hours, it opens your eyes to how much this government is capable of."

However, Longo says these issues date back to May of 2024. During this time, he claims he was contacted by an officer from the DEC who implied an issue with the Longos having Peanut.

"On May 16th, an officer reached out to me and told me that Peanut was no longer able to be in New York State and would never be able to be in New York State," said Longo. "And I wrote, in which I replied, I'm going to be taking my wildlife rehabbers exam in August, and he stated that even with my wildlife rehabbers testing and certification, that I still wouldn't be allowed to have Peanut, and that's all so false."

Longo says he and Daniela both passed the license test and were both waiting on finalization when the animals were taken.

"All we want is justice for this and we want the viewers and we want the world to see, you know, what changes can come from this," said Longo.

Additionally, Mark hopes that he and his wife will be able to continue on their original plans for P'Nut's Freedom Farm and Animal Sanctuary. For now, Longo says they continue to be thankful for the support they've received from the community.

"We have been raising funding for the indoor horse arena that we plan to put up in January and we want to start programs for veterans and people of mental health and PTSD and allow them to come here and work with certified support system animals," said Longo. "Hopefully, you know in the near future, we continue our wildlife rehabber's license and we get everything that we need and start advocating for raccoons. We cannot forget about Fred here. You know raccoons get a really bad rep. Rabies is the first thing that you think about when you think about a raccoon. You, we want to get involved with that. Maybe start a program where we can get involved with helping more raccoons so this doesn't happen again."

WENY News also reached out to the Chemung County Attorney's Office and, at the time of this writing, have yet to hear back.

The full Notice of Claims document can be viewed below.