Viral sanctuary co-founder taken into federal custody
November 12, 2026, 3:30 a.m. Central time.
Daniela Bittner, the German national who helped manage the viral internet sensation Peanut the squirrel alongside her husband Mark Longo, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faces administrative deportation proceedings back to Europe, federal immigration officials confirmed.
Bittner, 30, was taken into custody by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers at Elmira Corning Regional Airport near the New York-Pennsylvania border as she prepared to board a flight with her husband. The arrest marks a dramatic new chapter for the couple, whose quiet rural animal rescue in Chemung County, New York, was thrust into the center of national political debates in late 2024 when state environmental conservation officers raided their property and euthanized their celebrity pet squirrel and an orphaned raccoon.
According to Department of Homeland Security statements, Bittner entered the United States legally on multiple occasions between May 2021 and November 2022, but overstayed her authorized admission window without securing a permanent lawful immigration status before her visa expired.
Paperwork dispute collides with strict visa enforcement
Mark Longo described the enforcement action as an unexpected and devastating ambush, maintaining that Bittner’s immigration status fell into administrative limbo due to an honest paperwork misunderstanding amid the chaotic aftermath of their viral animal sanctuary controversy.
Longo, an American citizen who married Bittner in 2020, stated that the couple had filed official immigration petitions, including an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative, and believed her pending filings protected her from immediate enforcement. "We’ve been married for years, we run a recognized charity, and we made a simple filing mistake while trying to survive the circus of the past two years," Longo said in an emotional statement.
Homeland Security officials countered that having an active or pending petition filed by a spouse does not automatically confer legal nonimmigrant or resident status or shield foreign nationals from removal if their prior visitor or nonimmigrant visas lapsed. Federal authorities confirmed that Bittner was transferred from regional lockups in New York to an immigration detention center in Texas awaiting an expedited deportation hearing.
Nonprofit animal farm faces uncertain operational future
The detention has cast immediate doubt over the survival of P'Nut's Freedom Farm, the couple's nonprofit animal sanctuary in Pine City, New York, which houses more than 350 rescued farm animals, including horses, alpacas, goats, and pigs.
Bittner served as the sanctuary’s primary day-to-day animal caretaker, veterinarian liaison, and administrative manager. Longo warned that if his wife is deported back to Germany, the financial and logistical strain will force the facility to shutter its gates and find alternative placements for hundreds of dependent animals.
The couple first gained international prominence in late October 2024 when dozens of officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation executed a multi-hour search warrant at their home, confiscating Peanut and a raccoon named Fred. Both animals were euthanized for rabies testing after Peanut reportedly bit an investigator's glove, triggering nationwide furor, congressional inquiries, and public condemnation from figures including Vice President JD Vance during the 2024 presidential campaign.
