Reward offered as burned opossum sparks outrage and support in Mountain Park

MOUNTAIN PARK, Ga. - The opossum was found in the City of Mountain Park in Fulton County. 

The small animal is now in the care of a rescue organization. The rescuers and others are determined to find out what happened to this opossum.

What we know:

Jackie Wilcox, who runs Lucky's Place Where Wildlife Matters. She's been taking care of wildlife, especially opossums, for years. She says she knew right away what happened to this one. 

"I could tell she had been singed all over and burned. The whiskers are all singed off and her little ears are singed and they curled up. Her nose, I would say her nose is probably the worst of it," said Wilcox. 

What they're saying:

"I'm looking for wildlife reactions, like playing dead, hissing, anything that's very normal and adverse to humanity, and I walk up and the possum just looks at me," said Alexandra Rose who found the opossum. 

Alexandra says she knew the animal was injured.  Her sister, Bethen Rose, took the opossum to the rescue organization. 

"I drove over there. crying my eyes out, by the way, because I just could not understand such cruelty," said Bethen. 

Bethen posted about the opossum, they named Phoenix, on social media. 

"She was set on fire, she rose from the ashes, so we've named her Phoenix," said Bethen. 

Bethen says the reaction to her social media post was overwhelming. 

"All these people are commenting and contributing to the opossum being rehabilitated and healing," said Bethen. 

What we don't know:

A $1,400 reward is being offered to find out who burned an opossum.

What's next:

Alexandra and Bethen plan to hand out fliers in the City of Mountain Park and check with neighbors to see if anyone's doorbell video caught anything suspicious. "Here in Mountain Park, we are big animal advocates. We're actually a wildlife sanctuary as a city," said Alexandra. 

They hope this, plus the reward being offered, will help identify the person who burned the opossum. "We're trying to prevent this from happening again to an animal, and it could be a wild animal, or it could be someone's pet," said Bethen. 

Wilcox says the opossum is doing well, and believes one day it will be able to be released back into the wild. "She's eating well. She has a very spunky attitude, so I think she's got a real good chance for recovery," said Wilcox.