TUMWATER, Wash. — The opossum and her seven babies made the mistake of crossing in front of Steven Garity's car. They got squished. Garity made the mistake of being in front of a police car. He got charged with cruelty to animals.
And so began the Great Possum Debate, with people around here sinking their teeth into a spirited discussion of animal rights: Are possums such pests that you can't be cruel enough to them? Or do they deserve as much respect as any other living creature?
A judge added his opinion last month, dismissing the case and declaring Tumwater's animal-cruelty ordinance too vague.
But given the possum passions in this western Washington town, the last word on road-kill morality has yet to be heard.
"I'm not a lawyer and certainly not a judge," said Michael Ellis, director of a wildlife rescue center in nearby McCleary. "But I have to say that any human being with any sense of humanity would realize that aiming a car at any animal and running it over intentionally is cruelty."
The case began March 31, when police officer Johnna Stevens saw Garity, 39, suddenly change lanes and hit a mother possum and the youngsters clinging to her.
"They're pests," the officer quoted Garity as saying. "All's they do is eat dog food and cat food and be a pest. They just hiss at you."
Garity was accused of intentionally running down the possums and was cited under Tumwater's animal-cruelty ordinance, which says it is a crime to "purposefully or recklessly subjects any animal to cruel mistreatment."
The offense carries up to 90 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Garity's attorney, Ken Valz, contended Garity was swerving to miss another possum. Valz also argued that the whole case was ludicrous because state wildlife officials consider the possum a pest.
He cited a Department of Natural Resources brochure that tells how to kill a "problem" possum: After trapping it, "gently submerge the trap in water for 10 minutes."
"Most people are astounded that it's gone this far--that any government would prosecute anyone for running over a possum, intentionally or unintentionally," Valz said.
But the homely possum--a beady-eyed, naked-tailed marsupial that looks as if nature built it from spare parts--has its supporters too.
For weeks, possums have been the No. 1 topic in the letters section of the local paper, the Olympian. Writers have been about evenly split, pro-Garity vs. pro-possum.
