Peanut the Squirrel's Owner Wants Elon Musk to Joke Less, Support His Cause

Peanut the Squirrel is thrust back into headlines, with Elon Musk invoking the little guy in a rant about the latest Jeffrey Epstein news ... but Peanut's owner ain't thrilled about the stunt.

Mark Longo tells TMZ ... he's totally honored Musk mentioned Peanut in his post, and now people are talking about the controversial deaths of his beloved pet squirrel and raccoon, Fred, but he wishes EM would do more to help the family's cause.

We talked to Mark right after Elon posted on X a classic meme featuring Jim from "The Office" with the words, "More squirrels and raccoons have been arrested ... than anyone on Epstein's client list. Government is deeply broken."

Elon is among those who are super pissed the Department of Justice announced Monday there's no evidence Epstein kept a “client list,” or was murdered in his jail cell -- a statement some immediately called total BS.

Mark knew something major must have happened when his phone blew up this afternoon ... and he says the post -- even if it's just a throwaway meme -- is helpful to remind people of the October 2024 controversy surrounding the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which seized and euthanized his pets for rabies testing. The results were negative.

Peanut's owner tells us if Elon feels so strongly about what happened -- which Mark totally believes he does -- then he should show some love to Mark's nonprofit rescue -- P'Nut's Freedom Farm Animal Sanctuary, and support his legal action!