This Town Is Raising Money for Firefighters By Letting People Shake Opossums While Holding Them By the Tail

By definition, a festival is an event celebrated by a community that centers on some characteristic aspect of that community and its religion or culture. When those traditions’ purpose is to inflict suffering on a living being, however, someone needs to stand up for change. The Wausau Possum Festival in Florida claims to “celebrate the possum” but does nothing of the sort!

Attendees bid on an opossum (this is the correct name for these animals) and then the winner gets to hold the terrified animal by the tail and shake it. This blatant display of cruelty seems pointless, and we cannot begin to understand how it could celebrate this poor marsupial. The Care2 petition team agrees and has set up a petition asking Wausau, Florida’s mayor, Roger D. Hagan, to put an end to this ridiculous event.

What makes the situation even more absurd is the fact that two major politicians in the state, Bob Rackleff and Adam Putman, are not only ok with the Possum Festival but actually participated in this year’s event! Putman even dared to utter the words, “It’s for a good cause!” The proceeds reportedly go towards the volunteer fire department as well as next year’s festival … but aren’t there a million other ways to go about raising money other than hurting an innocent animal?

Please sign the petition and use your voice to speak for these opossums who have done nothing to deserve this absurd and horrific treatment. Festival goers may not be aware of the amount of stress that is being caused to these creatures … but most people have the common sense to know that holding an animal by the tail and “shaking them around” is not going to be fun for the animal! It’s also important to point out that opossums are nocturnal, so putting them in this position in pure daylight just adds fuel to the fire.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating one’s traditions or roots, but it should never be at the expense of another living being. After 50 years of cruelty, it’s high time some changes are made to the Wausau Possum Festival, changes that truly celebrate this unique animal, or it needs to be canceled. Sign the petition today to put a stop to this celebration of cruelty.

Image Source: Pexels