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Former owner of Peanut the squirrel, viral pet euthanized by NY officials, detained by ICE

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Cite

Chu, B. (2026, November 12). Former owner of Peanut the squirrel, viral pet euthanized by NY officials, detained by ICE. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/us/former-owner-peanut-squirrel-viral-pet-euthanized-ny-officials-detained-ice

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-11-12 · by Bonny Chu

Quick Summary

Daniela Bittner, a German native whose pet squirrel Peanut was euthanized by New York wildlife officials in 2024, was detained by ICE in mid-October near the New York-Pennsylvania border. While her husband, Mark Longo, characterizes the arrest as a minor paperwork error made during the period of the squirrel's seizure, the Department of Homeland Security states she was arrested for overstaying her legal residence. The reporting highlights the couple's situation by contrasting Longo's claims of "deplorable" conditions and a procedural mistake against the government's assertion of a willful violation of immigration laws. This detention threatens the future of the couple's nonprofit animal sanctuary, which currently houses 600 rescued animals.
Written by AI on 2026-11-13, from this article's own text only.

AI analysis

Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 149529: no verified evidence · logged 2026-11-13

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
38%
9 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
unclustered
not grouped into a story yet
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-13 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 7495 article(s) · 14 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 14 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Bonny Chu
43 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
"I couldn’t be prouder of the brave men and women of ICE, who just broke more historic records," Mullin said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the outlet that Bittner lawfully entered the U.S. multiple times between May 2021 and November 2022, each time receiving permission to stay for a temporary period.
The collaboration will continue.
"Amnesty will never be on the table," Mullin said.
Poursafi also told the contact he had an additional "job" for which he would pay $1 million.
"We will work together to take robust action against those we suspect of any criminal activity that could undermine our national security," Evans said in a statement.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on Monday laid out an aggressive agenda for House Democrats as the party prepares to take control of the chamber following sweeping midterm election victories, declaring that Democrats will "not give a dime" toward funding the Trump administration's deportation efforts.
Trump added that the one thing he wished Vance would have done differently was share whether the vice president would have made the decision to strike Iran again, given his role in the administration's decision-making process. "The only thing I wish he would've said there, if he felt it," Trump said.
Miller confirmed Walters' departure in a statement to Fox News, describing him as an "invaluable member" of the White House who will continue to assist the administration from the outside. "Richard has been an invaluable member of the White House and has helped deliver some of the Administration’s biggest victories.
"The Secret Service will continue expanding our focus on proactively investigating and identifying individuals who make threats to our protectees, in order to disrupt threats before they arrive in Washington.
Also by Bonny Chu
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 43 articles by Bonny Chu →

Topics

DHS German New York The Post U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Subjects

Bittner PERSON · 5× Longo PERSON · 5× DHS ORG · 3× New York GPE · 2× Peanut PERSON · 2× The Associated Press ORG · 2× The Post ORG · 2× Daniela Bittner PERSON · 1× German NORP · 1× U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ORG · 1×

Narrative

"They had asked for additional information, which we provided, and then apparently they sent a letter stating that it was denied because we filed the wrong paperwork, which we never received," he said. "This is a minor paperwork issue and it’s being treated as if my wife literally crawled out a hole to get into this country," he added.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-13
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the outlet that Bittner lawfully entered the U.S. multiple times between May 2021 and November 2022, each time receiving permission to stay for a temporary period.

Claims (24 extracted, 9 hedged)

The wife of the New York man whose viral pet squirrel Peanut was seized and euthanized by wildlife officials in 2024 has been detained by immigration authorities. asserted
squirrel → seize → authorities
Daniela Bittner, a German native, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in mid-October at a small airport near New York's border with Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press (AP). uncertain
Bittner → arrest → Press
She and her husband of four years, Mark Longo, were planning to attend a TikTok event when officers approached them, according to the New York Post. uncertain
officers → plan → Post
Longo said his wife's detention stemmed from what he described as a minor paperwork issue, The AP said. asserted
AP → say → issue
The couple reportedly made an error on one of her immigration forms and failed to catch it while dealing with the seizure and euthanasia of Peanut. uncertain
couple → make → Peanut
"She came into this country legally on a visa. asserted
She → come → visa
We filed the paperwork and stuff and apparently the government is saying we filed the wrong piece of paper," Longo told The Post. asserted
Longo → file → Post
"They had asked for additional information, which we provided, and then apparently they sent a letter stating that it was denied because we filed the wrong paperwork, which we never received," he said. "This is a minor paperwork issue and it’s being treated as if my wife literally crawled out a hole to get into this country," he added. asserted
he → ask → country
Longo said Bittner has no criminal history and was hit with the maximum penalty, potentially facing deportation without a hearing, according to The Post. uncertain
Bittner → say → Post
The couple reportedly married in 2022, shortly after Bittner returned to Germany to resolve a visa situation. uncertain
Bittner → marry → situation
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told the outlet that Bittner lawfully entered the U.S. multiple times between May 2021 and November 2022, each time receiving permission to stay for a temporary period. uncertain
Bittner → tell → period
However, DHS said she was arrested because she "chose to overstay her welcome in defiance of our nation's laws. asserted
she → say → laws
" "To be clear, a pending application does not confer legal status in the United States," DHS told the Post. asserted
DHS → pende → Post
Bittner has reportedly been transferred between several detention centers, from Syracuse to Buffalo, Louisiana and eventually Texas. uncertain
Bittner → transfer → Buffalo
Longo described the conditions his wife has faced in federal custody as "deplorable," The AP said. asserted
AP → describe → custody
Her arrest has also cast uncertainty over the couple's nonprofit animal rescue operation, where Bittner reportedly cares for 600 animals rescued from neglect. uncertain
Bittner → cast → neglect
"If my wife gets deported for a paperwork issue, we will lose EVERYTHING we worked for. asserted
we → deport → EVERYTHING
Our Nonprofit Animal Sanctuary will close and 600 animals will have to find another home. asserted
animals → close → home
All we wanted was to be left alone. asserted
we → want → ?
We finally moved on from the tragic murder of Pnut, now to this," he said. asserted
he → move → this
The couple found themselves at the center of a nationwide wildlife controversy in 2024 after New York wildlife officials seized and euthanized their pet squirrel, sparking widespread outrage. asserted
officials → find → outrage
Longo had rescued Peanut when he was just 5 weeks old after the squirrel's mother was reportedly struck and killed by a car. uncertain
mother → rescue → car
The animal later became a viral social media sensation, amassing a large following online. asserted
animal → become → following
The Associated Press contributed to this report. asserted
Press → contribute → report
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