ANDREWS, N.C. — North Carolina has a long history of ringing in a new year with old traditions of "dropping" items (and we're not talking about a big crystal ball in Times Square).
From a big pickle in Mount Olive to an acorn in Raleigh, these 'drops' are part of the annual celebrations. But, one small North Carolina town is catching some flack from animal rights groups for reportedly "dropping the ball" on a deal -- an agreement to discontinue its opossum drop.
VERIFY QUESTION
Good Morning Show viewer Laura Goldstein asked, "I recently read an article about Andrews, North Carolina and their (o)possum drop. I heard they were going to stop it, but the mayor backed out of that agreement, and it's going to continue. Can you VERIFY that? Thanks so much!"
Goldstein saw articles posted by the Opossum Awareness and Advocacy Group, a staunch opponent of the opossum drop, who has been trying to stop it for years.
The drop used to be in Brasstown, NC on New Year's Eve. Last year, it moved to Andrews, NC. Opossum Awareness and Advocacy claims the opossum, named Millie, was injured in the drop. The group asked the Andrews mayor to promise not to do it again. The group claims the mayor agreed to sign the deal, but then he backed out of it.
VERIFY SOURCE
Dave Crawford - co-founder of Animal Help Now and partner of Opossum Awareness and Advocacy Group
VERIFY PROCESS
North Carolina's statute on wildlife laws for opossums allows opossum captures for New Year's Eve celebrations from December 29 to January 2 and permits no state or local statutes related to capturing or releasing the opossum during that date. That is why Animal Help Now wanted the mayor to sign an agreement promising to stop the opossum drop.
Crawford showed WFMY News 2's Meghann Mollerus the agreement he sent mayor Reid, unsigned. Mollerus asked Reid about it via phone. He said he did verbally agreed to sign the document but then decided to draft his own version, so it would come directly from the town -- not any particular animal right's group. He said his town manager is drafting it up right now, and he plans to sign it this week.
Reid said, "We never wanted to harm any animals. We are a very compassionate town, we live in a beautiful valley, and we don't need a black eye like this on our town."
VERIFY CONCLUSION
The claim that the Andrews, NC mayor backed out of an agreement to stop the Opossum drop is partially true, but the mayor wants to draft his own version. WFMY News 2 will post an update and copy of the agreement upon receiving it.
As for the claim the opossum used in the 2018 drop was injured, Mollerus reached out to the veterinarian on duty that day, and he declined to comment.
Update: As of April 10, 2019, Mayor Reid has not submitted a copy of an agreement to WFMY News 2, and it is unclear whether he has signed one.
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