Small NC Town Finally Opts Out on Opossum Drop

HankHenley.com

Lowering a possum into a crowd of approximately 2,000 celebrators near New Year's Eve has been a tradition in Brasstown, N.C., for 21 years.  But after pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA), a recent court ruling prohibits the use of wild animals for pets or amusement, nixing the annual possum drop. According to FoxNews.com, the man behind this festivity—Clay Logan—describes it as "good, clean, family fun."

However, PETA begs to differ, saying it's "illegal and cruel." Logan counters that the possum is lowered in a plexiglass cage and eventually released into the woods.

PETA maintains that "Opossums are shy animals who are terrified of humans—their primary predator—and vulnerable to stress-related conditions because of captivity, including capture myopathy, which can result in death days or even weeks after release back into the wild."

Senior Administrative Law Judge Fred G. Morrison Jr., according to Peta.org, found that in North Carolina, citizens "are prohibited from capturing and using wild animals for pets or amusement" and that the "Wildlife Resources Commission has no authority to issue any permit to Logan for the unlawful public display of a native wild animal at the Opossum Drop event." 

Whatever your take on the situation, it is official that Logan's opossums have been dropped for the last time...for now. Logan maintains that he will find a way to continue the tradition—without breaking the law.