Petition Asks To Replace Confederate Statue With Statue Of Snooty The Manatee

A day after the world’s oldest known manatee, Snooty, died in South Florida Museum, Bradenton, a petition called for replacing a Confederate memorial statue in the town with a statue of Snooty.

The petition on Change.org started Monday is looking at replacing the statue, which the petitioner termed a "symbol of racism and oppression," outside the old courthouse, just blocks from the aquarium where Snooty lived.

Read: Snooty, World's Oldest Manatee, Dies In South Florida Museum Accident

Petitioner Anthony Pusateri said on the website: “To honor Snooty's legacy as a positive icon in Bradenton, I propose that the negative symbol of racism and oppression that is the Confederate monument be relocated and replaced with a statue of Snooty the Manatee."

He said that the existing statue could be moved to a museum or another appropriate place, out of everyday public eye, and a more positive symbol then take its place.

The petition garnered more than 1,500 signatures in less than 24 hours and had more than 3000 supporters at the time of publishing this article.

Pusateri added about the petition: “Just got off the phone with a reporter at the Tampa Bay Times. Thank you again for the support and keep sharing. I will give it till this Friday or to 2,000 signatures before submitting this to the Mayor, City Council, and County Commission. Whichever comes first.”

Speaking to the Bradenton Herald, Pusateri said he had previously heard someone calling for the Confederate statue to be removed and he thought replacing it with the statue of the manatee would be like hitting “two birds with one stone.”

This was not the only petition that was started after Snooty's death. The Palm Beach Post reported that two other petitions had also come up — one to rename Lakewood Ranch, a planned community area in the city, after Snooty and another asked that a new high school in Manatee County be called “Snooty the Manatee High school.”

The residents of Bradenton were devastated after news about the death of their beloved manatee broke. The South Florida Museum, where he lived for many years, called it “simply a heartbreaking accident.” The famous manatee drowned a day after celebrating his 69th birthday after being trapped by a hatch door, museum officials said in a press conference Sunday. Snooty is listed as the “World’s Oldest Manatee in Captivity” in the Guinness World Records 2017 Edition.

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According to a piece by a resident in the Bradenton Herald, Snooty was “the face of the city and the mascot for the county.” Shattered residents, who had seen Snooty since they were kids, left items like flowers, cards, drawings from children, lettuce, carrots and candles were near the front door of the museum on Monday to honor the manatee.

Jeff Rodgers, the museum's chief operating officer, told Bradenton Herald that a memorial service for Snooty was being planned. He also said officials would work on creating a memorial to Snooty on the museum grounds and this process would also involve public input.