Possum Drop goes on for New Year's Eve, without live animal

BRASSTOWN — New Year's Eve revelers at the popular but controversial Brasstown Possum Drop in North Carolina won't see a live opossum this year.

Clay Logan, organizer of the event, said Monday that an ongoing legal battle with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals over the use of live animals led to the decision.

He said the annual New Year's Eve party at his store, Clay's Corner, will go on as usual, but no live animal will be used. But something opossum-related will be dropped at midnight, Logan said.

"We'll have something to drop, but not a live possum," Logan said. "It might be a road-kill possum or a pot of stewed possum."

The decision this year is not necessarily the end of the custom of using a live opossum at the event, provided a judge rules in his favor in a pending PETA civil lawsuit to halt the practice, he said.

"We'll go back to a live one if the judge rules in our favor," Logan said.

The highlight of the Possum Drop, in its 21st year, traditionally comes when a live marsupial, contained in a glass box, is slowly lowered to ring in the New Year, patterned after the Times Square Ball in New York City.

The captured opossums are later released, but PETA contends the practice is cruel and traumatizes the animals.

In an effort to keep the event going, the General Assembly passed a law last year allowing licensed sportsmen to hold animals for display at "an annual, seasonal, or cultural event." Earlier this year, legislators approved a local bill excluding opossums from state wildlife laws between Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 in Brasstown in Clay County, N.C.

But on Dec. 5, a Wake County judge granted PETA a preliminary injunction to block the local bill. Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins ruled that PETA was likely to win its lawsuit, so he granted their motion.

Collins also said the drop organizer could still use a live opossum this year if he obtained a required permit from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission in time. But Logan said the decision came too late for him to get the permit.

Logan said the event, which typically draws 2,000 to 3,000 people and has gained national attention, likely would still be well-attended Wednesday night even without a live animal.

"I think the weather probably will have more to do with it than what we do," he said.

PETA attorney Martina Bernstein predicted the Brasstown event would remain popular despite the absence of a live animal.

"We're very happy this year there will be no live opossum tormented," Bernstein said. "I think it will prove this event can be very successful without the need to torment a defenseless animal."

She said it's tough to predict when PETA's lawsuit would go to court, but it may be in the coming year.