Brasstown Possum Drop (Courtesy: Asheville Citizen Times)
Raleigh, NC-- Just when you thought the story on the possum drop was a done deal.
It's not every day North Carolina's legislature takes up a bill involving the fate of captive nocturnal marsupials, so lawmakers figured they might as well have some fun.
The "Opossum Right-to-Work Act" introduced Wednesday gives the state explicit authority to permit the organizer of a New Year's Eve Possum Drop to display a wild-caught animal. By tradition, the trapped opossum is suspended in a tinsel-covered box and gently lowered to the ground at midnight, then released.
A judge agreed in November with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals that such a permit was improper under state law, so legislators are changing the law.
Co-sponsor Sen. Stan Bingham, a Davidson County Republican, said that after years of budget shortfalls and other serious issues, it's high time for a little levity.
Related stories:
-- NC Judge Ends New Year's Eve Possum Drop
-- Possum Drop Is A Go With Changes
-- Possum Drop Can't Include Live Animal
-- Odd Ways Cities/Towns Across US Ring In New Year
Source: AP