PETA opposes the Brasstown New Year’s Eve Possum Drop. PETA spokesman David Perle argued, “Using a captive opossum as the centerpiece of a raucous party is cruel and illegal.” He added that state law prohibits possession of live wildlife without a permit.
PETA attorney Brittany Peet said, “There are no permits that allow a person to hold wildlife in North Carolina.” She clarified permits are issued for holding animals captive, but not for using them for amusement. Peet suggested using a stuffed opossum.
Stuffing a possum seems more cruel than subjecting it to the psychological impairments posed from revelry. Clay Logan, owner of the location where the party takes place, said he has never had a possum get so skeered as to play dead in the eighteen years of the ceremony. Furthermore, the animals are treated humanely.
“They get the best dog food you can get,” he said. “We talk to them and love them. They hate to leave.”
Logan said he doesn’t go as far as to let the opossum sleep on his bed, but it is housed in a government-approved cage, approved by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
Logan said road kill was used one year, but the event wasn’t the same. He further argued he had the necessary permits from the US Wildlife Resources Commission and the US Department of Agriculture.
Incidentally, the opossum is dropped slowly in a cage, and not thrown off a roof like a cat.