With the Fair Bear Chase Referendum ”“ Question 1 ”“ just a week away, people’s attention around the state have turned to bears, but bears around the country also need your help. Many bears are languishing in concrete pits or barren cages in roadside zoos across the southern and western parts of the United States. According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ”“ commonly known as PETA ”“ the United States Department of Agriculture has failed to enact any meaningful regulations designed to meet the complex needs of these active, inquisitive creatures.
These shabby facilities keep bears in tiny, barren cages or concrete pits with woefully inadequate space, lack of physical or mental stimulation, and inappropriate diets. They languish in conditions that deny the bears any opportunity to engage in natural behavior, such as hibernating and foraging. Because their needs aren’t being met, many bears in roadside zoos spend most of their time pacing, cage-biting and head-butting, which experts agree are signs of distress.
PETA has submitted a 64-page petition, which includes case studies, photographs and expert statements, to the USDA, asking the agency to create and apply specific regulations for bears held captive in appalling conditions by exhibitors, dealers and research facilities as “the overwhelming majority of captive bears in the U.S. are being housed in roadside zoos that do not adhere to minimum bear husbandry standards and force bears to live in conditions that not only fail to meet the bears’ most basic needs, but are associated with serious health problems and psychological suffering.”
The petition goes on to say, “Many roadside zoos also remove bear cubs from their mothers before the age of natural weaning or dispersal, which is inconsistent with minimum acceptable bear husbandry standards … Bear cubs are born with the genetic need for their mothers to feed, protect, nurture, teach and play with them for at least 11/2 to 2 years. Denying a bear cub his or her innate needs through premature maternal separation may cause undue stress, confusion, depression, or even disease … Young bear cubs are advertised for sale in the Animal Finders’ Guide, a trade publication that caters to hunting ranches, dealers, breeders and others who profit off of the exotic pet trade in the United States. Some of these bear cubs are only 8 or 9 weeks old when they are torn from their mothers.”
On Oct. 9, PETA took out a full-page ad in the New York Times that stated, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responsible for enforcing the Animal Welfare Act, the only federal law that specifically protects animals used for entertainment. Yet even the worst animal abusers are getting a free pass. The USDA has consistently failed to take meaningful enforcement action even when animals are suffering and dying. Cases languish for years, and those few that are acted upon are typically settled with fines so minuscule that abusers consider them to be just a small cost of doing business.”
Last month, PETA successfully used legal action to rescue a bear named Ben, who was kept for six long years at Jambbas Ranch in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in a cramped cage with a concrete floor. Ben was fed dry dog food once a day and spent most of his waking hours pacing the few square feet allotted to him. Despite Ben’s obvious suffering and multiple complaints from PETA and others, USDA inspectors failed to cite Jambbas Ranch for violations related to Ben. In state court, however, a judge ruled that the conditions in which he was being kept constituted cruelty to animals, proving that the federal Animal Welfare Act isn’t preventing cruelty to captive bears.
While Ben’s story has a happy ending, hundreds of other bears will continue to languish in squalid conditions until the USDA takes action.
PETA petitioned the USDA to help suffering, captive bears, and had to file a lawsuit before the agency finally sought public comment about this issue. It’s been more than seven months since the public comment period closed, yet bears continue to suffer as a result of inadequate regulations. The USDA still hasn’t enacted stronger regulatory protection for bears in captivity. You can help ensure that the USDA enacts stronger regulations for captive bears without further delay by going online to: www.peta.org/action/action-alerts/ask-usda-protect-captive-bears/#ixzz3Gw7i3iq2. You can also call the USDA Center for Animal Welfare directly at 816-737-4201 or go online to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, www.aphis.usda.gov.
Please take a few minutes of your time and contact the USDA and request that they do a better job of protecting bears held in captivity around this country. These captive bears need to be sent to sanctuaries where they can roam free, for to be free is to be truly alive with the wind at their backs and their senses filled with the sights and sounds of the great outdoors.
Here in Maine this Nov. 4, voters have a chance to make a difference for bears in this state. Remember that black bears ”“ normally shy, reclusive animals that want nothing to do with humans ”“ are being habituated to human food by baiting in Maine. This increases female bear reproduction by adding an extra layer of fat, just before hibernation, improving their chances of implanting an embryo and carrying a cub to term in the den. Bears without enough fat will terminate the pregnancy. Black bears in Maine are reportedly having a litter of cubs per year, as opposed to the usual litter every other year, as reported in other states. Bears that eat at bait sites and leave are chased by hounds that follow their scent. Bears are trapped in painful snares at bait sites and struggle for up to 24 hours before being shot. Bears in the wild have home ranges of up to hundreds of miles.
— Val Philbrick works in the production department of the Journal Tribune. She is a member of PETA and the Humane Society of the United States.
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