Growing up in Greenwich, Mark Longo followed the typical path, attending Cos Cob School, followed by Central Middle School and Greenwich High School where he graduated in the class of 2008. After college he became an engineer.
But most recently he distinguished himself as “proud squirrel dad.”
His unique story – both heartwarming and hilarious – has been picked up by countless news outlets and social media platforms.
Mark and Dani Longo at Zhody’s 19th Hole in Stamford the night of a recent fundraiser for “P’Nuts Freedom Farm,” their sanctuary for horses and a variety of animals upstate New York. Aug 3, 2024 Photo: Leslie Yager
Beyond the internet fame, “Peanut” the squirrel has had an exponential impact on other other animals in need.
Knowing the Longo family, Mark’s story with Peanut really doesn’t come as a surprise. Growing up, Mark’s mother Denise and his father, also named Mark, imparted their love of animals to Mark and his sister Britni.
So the day seven years ago that Mark spotted a baby squirrel whose mother had been hit and killed by a car in New York City, there was no question he had to save the tiny orphan.
He put the injured creature in his pocket and drove him to home Connecticut.
Thus began the positively nutty story of the curious bond between one man and his squirrel.
Peanut, with his black and brown fur and big bushy tail, hit the jackpot that fateful day. But Mark’s intention was never to keep the Eastern Gray Squirrel as a pet. Rather, he planned to nurse him back to health and reintroduce him to nature.
“Usually, when they mature, after eight months to a year, you see the aggression, you can see the hormones. But Peanut didn’t have it,” Mark said, warning, “Don’t go out and get a squirrel and think you’re going to have this experience.”
After he was rehabilitated, Peanut’s release was unsuccessful. During his foray into the wild, Peanut lost half of his tail in an attack and Mark found him at the back door.
“He just never developed the instincts to survive outside. He was deemed un-releasable and became an indoor squirrel. He became best friends with our cat Chloe.”
“He’s very sociable – more than the other animals. He will bypass me when people come over and just to go and say hi.”
After making a “silly” Instagram video that reached 300 million people, People Magazine called. USA Today called. And then The Dodo called!
Today, Peanut, while weighing only about 2 lbs, continues to enjoy a huge presence on social media.
The first Dodo video did so well, they did a second one featuring Peanut with a posh British accent.
While Peanut and his “hooman” dad remain famous online, on terra firma much has changed.
Mark recalls posting a video of his breakfast with Peanut, and how it led to an introduction to Dani, who would become his wife.
“He was in a pool of oatmeal holding a sign that said ‘Breakfast with P and M,'” Mark recalled.
“Dani’s best friend’s husband made a group chat where they sent each other animal memes. He stumbled on this video and sent it to Dani, who sent me a message that said, ‘I’m in love.’ I knew she wasn’t talking about me,” he joked. “But we started talking about finance and accounting and marketing. She’s a tattoo model and I was worried, this might not be the person I’m talking to.”
He asked Dani to do a video chat since she seemed too good to be true.
“She called me wearing a flying squirrel costume, and I said I had to meet you,” he said, looking fondly at his wife.
From there, Mark flew to Vegas where Dani was living at the time.
“We’ve been together ever since,” Dani said.
A year and a half ago, Mark and Dani established P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary in rural Elmira, NY.
With over 350 acres of land, they house over 300 animal rescues including 57 horses.
“We travel the country to take horses mainly off of kill pens and slaughter auctions,” Mark explained.
“Two of them were pregnant and have had babies,” Dani said. “They had been sent to slaughter anyway.”
Of course the veterinary care expenses are significant and the sanctuary makes good use of donations.
But even before the vet care, they must pay for the horses at auctions.
“Their bail-out fee equals their meat price,” Dani said, adding that horses are not slaughtered in America, but Mexico and Canada continue the practice.
“From the auctions we try to take the elderly, the disabled, the blind and the deaf,” Mark said, adding that they work with a broker since they’re not allowed to attend the auctions themselves.
The horses then go to quarantine facility in Pennsylvania before making their way to the upstate New York “P’Nuts” sanctuary.
“We take the horses with medical issues – broken bones or old injuries. Eighty percent of our horses are never ride-able. They’re living out their best lives in pastures,” Dani added.
“Growing up here in Connecticut, you don’t really know horses unless you’re a gajillionaire. But, when I met my wife she introduced me to everything to do with horses and the farm lifestyle,” Mark said.
Dani, said Germany, where she is originally from, has many laws to protect horses and they are not slaughtered there.
When she joined Mark, they decided together to save as many horses as possible.
But the sanctuary is also home to alpacas, pigs, donkeys, bunnies, geese, ducks, and chickens.
“You name it we have come across it,” Mark said.
“Our focus was horses, but then we realized that there are many other animals who need homes,” Mark continued. “So while we focus on our animals saved from the kill pens, we also take in animals from people who are retiring or people with financial issues.”
In addition to the cost of buying the animals at auction, there are significant costs food, vet care, and of transforming 350 acres of land into a sanctuary.
To date they’ve tapped into about 40 acres of the 350 acres, creating about 20 pastures with shelters. And while water is currently carted to the fields – a daily time consuming effort – they plan to create infrastructure to allow for running water in the pastures.
Typically the budget to run the sanctuary is $20,000 to $25,000 a month, which includes things like farrier care, dental care, grain and hay, but excludes any major veterinary bills.
Mark and Dani do a lot of fundraising for the sanctuary. This past weekend they held a fundraiser at Zhody’s 19th Hole in Stamford, but a great deal of the effort is done through social media, including through Peanut’s channels.
The little rescue squirrel is paying it forward!
“He’s the real reason why we got to establish this organization as quickly we were able to – because we have such a strong animal-loving following on Instagram, Facebook and other social media,” Mark said.
With the Zhody’s event about to begin on Saturday, Mark said the idea was to host more local charity events and spread awareness of the non-profit sanctuary and its goals.
“We hope we can find more animal lovers that will trust in our mission and join forces with us to allow us to continue on such a large scale.”
Next steps?
Mark said the animals help him with anxiety and occasional depression, and he and Dani hope to certify some of their animals for therapy.
“I know when I’m having a tough, dark day I go outside and hang with the animals, and they make me feel a lot better,” he said. “There’s no communication, but they understand what you’re going through.You feel that love and it’s a great feeling.”
Toward that end, the Longos would like to raise enough funds to build an indoor horse arena where they can board horses, provide training, host events like “goat yoga,” and importantly, host clinics where people enduring challenging times can interact with horses and bond with them.
They also hope to build their own quarantine barn.
“We don’t like to introduce a new horse to a herd right away,” he explained. “With a quarantine facility we can get to know them and then introduce them to whatever herd we deem fit for that animal.”
Also, they use the services of two local veterinarians, but they hope to employ their own on site veterinarian in the future.
Mark and Dani said the local community in Elmira have embraced them and their sanctuary, and in return, they hope to create local jobs.
“It’s a dream, and it’s only starting,” Mark said. “We’re happy we’ve accomplished so much in our first year.”
Learn more online about P’Nuts Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary.
Visit P’Nuts Sanctuary Etsy page where you can order goat milk soap, candles, t-shirts and more.
Check out Peanut’s Instagram @peanut_the_squirrel12
Find P’Nuts Freedom Farm on Instagram @pnuts_freedom_farm
Find Peanut on Facebook @Peanutthesquirrel12/
Find the sanctuary on Facebook