Why was Saffron the opossum taken during Mardi Gras? The report is finally released.

Mardi Gras 2024 seems like a long time ago. But the saga of the opossum named Saffron, who was confiscated by state authorities in the French Quarter during Carnival, continues with no conclusion in sight.

At least the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has finally released more information about the seizure and condition of the animal. The report is critical of the creature’s previous care.

During Mardi Gras season, Wildlife and Fisheries agents were stationed in New Orleans to help NOPD and other law enforcement organizations keep the peace. But on Feb. 10, two LDWF agents returned to their more usual task of enforcing Louisiana's wildlife regulations.

Near Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, agents spotted a man displaying an opossum. The agents swiftly impounded the critter, called Saffron. They say William Voiles lacked the proper permits to own a wild animal.

As news of the seizure spread, a portion of the public felt that the LDWF could have turned a blind eye to the infraction, considering that Voiles claimed to have rescued and raised the critter from infancy, when its mother was killed in traffic.

But the agency has thus far taken a hard line, with both Voiles and the press.

In the weeks after the incident, the LDWF once assured Voiles that his opossum was safe, but hasn’t offered him the opportunity to visit with his pet and hasn’t revealed its whereabouts.

The agency has also withheld details of the situation from the media, insisting reporters make official public records requests to gain further information.

NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune did so and recently received the LDWF incident report and biology report on the animal, which shed more light on the situation.

According to the document, the opossum hadn’t bitten anyone or otherwise presented a threat, though it was creating a slight sensation among passersby.

“At approximately 10:56 p.m.,” the incident report reads, agents observed “a small crowd standing around” Voiles. As the agents approached, they observed a basket attached to Voiles’ bicycle “with a live opossum in the basket.”

The agents asked Voiles to “move down the street to get away from the crowd” in order to “investigate the issue at hand.”

The officers asked Voiles if he had a permit to own the possum and Voiles answered that “he didn’t know anything about” the requirement.

According to the report, Voiles told the agents that “he found the opossum at a very young age and nursed it back to health while it became his pet.”

Unswayed, the agents cited Voiles for violating a state statute that prohibits owning a wild quadruped (four-legged animal) without a permit, plus a New Orleans city ordinance that prohibits anyone from keeping “any wild, or exotic animal as a pet.”

The agents also noted that “there was a tip jar with an unknown amount of cash and a flyer advertising Voiles’ Instagram and Venmo accounts, affixed to the bicycle handle bars. The agents asserted that “Mr. Voiles was accepting donations towards any photographs that were taken by the public.”

It was unclear from the incident report if accepting tips contributed to the charges against Voiles.

Contacted by phone, Voiles said that he does indeed accept tips, but he is not charging for photo ops. Voiles is an artist who creates woven ribbon fleur-de-lis and crosses. He explained that he’s accepted tips for his crafts since before he owned Saffron. He said his tip jar includes the words “tips 4 treats,” in case fans of his opossum and other pets want to contribute to the animals getting special rewards later.

In addition to a description of the LDWF agent’s actions, an agency biologist added an examination report of the seized animal that was critical of its previous care.

When seized, the report said, Saffron was dressed in “soiled clothing” – a miniature sweater – that was inappropriate for the evening's temperatures, which ranged from the mid-60s to mid-70s.

Furthermore, the biologist claimed the animal was “unclean, underweight, and missing pelage (hair) in multiple places.” Fleas were present on the animal, according to the assessment, and there were “tapeworm segments present in the fecal material.”

The opossum was said to prefer canned cat food to the “standard opossum diet.” Not surprisingly, perhaps, the biologist noted that the opossum “does not exhibit flight or fight responses, indicative of long-term exposure to multiple human beings.”

Voiles acknowledges that there may have been fleas present on his one-time pet. He said he routinely gave Saffron flea baths, but that he hadn't given his pet the flea pills that he gives his dogs, because he wasn't sure if the medication was safe for opossums.

Voiles said he was surprised to hear that Saffron was underweight, because “he was fat.”

According to the biologist’s report, in the care of the LDWF, Saffron was given a flea bath, flea medication, and an intestinal parasite dewormer. By Feb. 21, the opossum was clean, free of fleas and internal parasites, and was beginning to accept appropriate food.

The only hint of the LDWF’s plans for Saffron is a note from the biologist not long after Saffron was confiscated stating, “with appropriate rehabilitation, the animal can likely be released into the wild.”

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