Press Release

  • For Immediate Release:

Animal Wellness Action Offers $5,000 Reward for Turning in North Carolina Group who Set an Opossum on Fire and Posted Video

Horrifying images posted on social media alert authorities to the heinous abuse of opossum

Charlotte, North Carolina — Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy announced a $5,000 reward for information resulting in the successful prosecution of any individual for violating state or federal law that leads to the identification of the group of people seen in a video published by the media in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This screengrab from Facebook shows the start of the video depicting the possum that was burned alive.

 
Public outrage erupted after a gruesome video showing a group of at least three people setting an opossum on fire in Charlotte went viral. The video shows them squirt lighter fluid at the animal and then set it on fire. The footage, which surfaced on social media platforms, depicts two individuals igniting the opossum while a third records the act. North Carolina Wildlife Officials have said the three people seen in that video could face felony charges. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police and the NC Wildlife Commission are investigating. The cruel actions have the potential to constitute charges under both state and federal animal protection laws. Opossums provide significant ecological benefits and pose no threat to humans or property.
 
“Cruelty to animals is despicable in its own right, but we also know that people who do awful things to animals often turn their violent instincts against spouses, girlfriends, children, or other members of the community,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “Studies have found animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people, these people must be found and brought to justice before they commit more crimes.”
 
Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy also provide rewards for animal cruelty tips, including for dogfighting and cockfighting. Tips go to [email protected].
 
Cases like this are a significant reason the groups are pushing for passage of the Animal Cruelty Enforcement (ACE) Act, H.R. 1477. The bill would create a new Animal Cruelty Crimes section within the Department of Justice to combat acts of malice toward animals. It was introduced in February by a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. David Joyce, R-Ohio, Joe Neguse, D-Colo., Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn.
 
The new section would concentrate on enforcing federal anti-cruelty laws, including a series of measures signed by President Trump during his first term. Trump had a signing ceremony for the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act and signed measures into law to prohibit dogfighting and cockfighting in the U.S. territories and to make it a federal crime to sell dog and cat meat for human consumption.
 
“Without enforcement, our laws are just aspirations, and criminals ignore them and charge ahead with their cruelty and chaos,” Pacelle said. “Crimes of malice toward animals are predictors of violence toward humans, so we are making everybody safer in our communities by robustly enforcing these laws.”

Center for a Humane Economy is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to help animals by helping forge a more humane economic order. The first organization of its kind in the animal protection movement, the Center encourages businesses to honor their social responsibilities in a culture where consumers, investors, and other key stakeholders abhor cruelty and the degradation of the environment and embrace innovation as a means of eliminating both. The Center believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @TheHumaneCenter

Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News

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