North Carolina mayor declares town will stop tradition of dropping opossum on NYE

Mayor James Reid of Andrews, North Carolina, shared that he wanted to keep the sanctioned event but decided not to once his phone was plagued by protest calls

A North Carolina mayor has announced that his town will end the almost 30-year tradition of dropping a live opossum on New Year’s Eve, following mass protest after a marsupial was forced to have its leg amputated last year. 

Mayor James Reid of Andrews, North Carolina, said he wanted to keep the sanctioned event but decided not to because his phone was plagued by protest calls. 

‘Times are changing,’ Reid explained to the Wall Street Journal. ‘Our plan is to have an awesome party and not have any live animals involved whatsoever.’ 

Reid shared that the small town – that has a population of just 1,800 – will instead have a wrestling match and a womanless beauty pageant. 

‘It’s done,’ he added. ‘They can stick a fork in it.’ 

Reid’s announcement came after an animal rights group launched a petition calling for the the annual tradition to be stopped.   

Animal Help Now closed their Change.org petition calling for an ‘end state-sanctioned opossum abuse in North Carolina’, receiving just under 160,000 signatures towards the end of November. 

The petition calls for an end to House Bill 574, which a majority of the General Assembly members approved for in 2015 ‘without granting the public the right to comment on it.’  

His announcement comes after Animal Help Now closed their Change.org petition calling for an 'end state-sanctioned opossum abuse in North Carolina', receiving just under 160,000 signatures

His announcement comes after Animal Help Now closed their Change.org petition calling for an ‘end state-sanctioned opossum abuse in North Carolina’, receiving just under 160,000 signatures

The statute says: ‘No State or local statutes, rules, regulations, or ordinances related to the capture, captivity, treatment, or release of wildlife shall apply to the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) between the dates of December 29 of each year and January 2 of each subsequent year.’

The petition calls out the statute for giving North Carolina the right to ‘legally abuse opposums.’ It calls the statute an ’embarrassment to its residents and jeopardizes the state’s tourism industry.’   

The ‘Possum Drop’ is similar to the New York City ball drop and involves a wild marsupial getting caught and held for several days before being put on display on New Year’s Eve.

Animal Help Now released the petition after an opossum - named Millie - suffered an infection and had to get her leg amputated after the 2018-2019 'Possum Drop'

Animal Help Now released the petition after an opossum – named Millie – suffered an infection and had to get her leg amputated after the 2018-2019 ‘Possum Drop’

The 'Possum Drop' is similar to the New York City ball drop and involves a wild marsupial getting caught and held for several days before getting put on display on New Year's Eve

The ‘Possum Drop’ is similar to the New York City ball drop and involves a wild marsupial getting caught and held for several days before getting put on display on New Year’s Eve

Millie's swollen and infected foot

The leg during the amupation process

The group has shared photos of Millie’s injuries and shares that the marsupial has struggled but is adjusting since losing its leg

The suffering animals are later released back into the wild or given to wildlife rehabilitators so that they can address any trauma that the animals may have, their website states. 

Animal Help Now released the petition after an opossum – named Millie – suffered an infection and had to get her leg amputated after the 2018-2019 drop. 

Millie was seen in videos getting dropped during celebrations in Andrews, North Carolina.

The group has shared photos of Millie’s injuries and shares that the marsupial has struggled but is adjusting since losing its leg. 

‘Millie dangled in a plexiglass box above a noisy crowd, band and fireworks,’ the petition reads. ‘This stress is enough to cause serious illnesses among shy, gentle animals such as opossums. For a few hours of entertainment, Millie was tormented and eventually had to have her leg amputated. The disability is so severe that she can never go home. This can never happen again.’ 

'Millie dangled in a plexiglass box above a noisy crowd, band and fireworks,' the petition reads. 'This stress is enough to cause serious illnesses among shy, gentle animals such as opossums'

‘Millie dangled in a plexiglass box above a noisy crowd, band and fireworks,’ the petition reads. ‘This stress is enough to cause serious illnesses among shy, gentle animals such as opossums’

Animal Help Now asserts that the abusive entertainment is ‘inadequate justification for stripping the benign and beneficial opossum of all protections afforded by state and local laws  that have been in places for decades.’    

‘Opossums are incredibly timid and gentle souls who can become so overwhelmed with fear and anxiety that their bodies literally shut down into a coma-like state,’ shared Emilie Nelson, Director, NC Wildlife Rehab, Lincolnton, NC.

‘Stress cardiomyopathy, capture myopathy and stress-related dermal septic necrosis (DSN) are common in opossums and can be fatal. The opossum drop is, without a doubt, cruel.

Officials in Brasstown, North Carolina stopped doing their possum drop in 2018, organizers told the News Observer last year.

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