Not since a pig farmer told our investigator, "Hurt 'em! There's nobody [who] works for PETA out here," have we recorded so many dumb statements on camera.

Yesterday, we told you how, following PETA's investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Chief Saunooke Bear Park and suspended its exhibitor license. These are some of the conversations that helped land the bear abusers in hot water:

1. Bears Biting the Metal Bars

They know the bears are miserable.

2. Hiding Things From the USDA

I'm sure the USDA loved this.

3. Not Feeding the Bears

Jerks!

4. Eating the Bears

Whaaaaat?!

5. Discrimination Against Native Americans (Who Own the Park Land)

That must have gone over well with the landlord.

6. Your Questionable Work Ethic

Things that don't go well together: impaired awareness and handling bears.

7. How to Treat a Lady

Susan's laughing now!

8. OK, so Now Pick Your Jaw Up off the Floor

These guys are so dumb that they could get their own reality show.

9. And Take Action for Bears!

The bear pit has been indefinitely shut down, but we still need your voice to ensure that the animals are safe for good. Sign the petition to request that the USDA immediately confiscate all the bears from the Chief Saunooke Bear Park and place them in a safe, reputable sanctuary.

PETA has submitted a 64-page petition, which includes case studies, photographs, and expert statements, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking the agency to create and apply specific regulations for bears held captive in appalling conditions by exhibitors, dealers, and research facilities. By allowing bears to be kept in squalid cages and concrete pits and denied everything that is natural and important to them, the USDA is clearly failing to ensure anything close to humane treatment of captive bears, in violation of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA).

Changing the Regulations to Reflect Reality

Last month, PETA successfully used legal action to rescue a bear named Ben, who was kept for six long years at Jambbas Ranch 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 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 AWA 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 unless the USDA takes action. Roadside zoos like Jambbas and the Cherokee Bear Zoo account for the majority of USDA licensees with captive bears. 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 and 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.

Bears Need Their Space—and Much More

Bears have a natural life span of up to three decades, and some species can have a home range of thousands of miles. According to the International Zoo Yearbook, "[I]t is recognized that bears are extremely difficult and challenging creatures to manage in the captive environment"—just as challenging, according to studies, as primates. For example, in a study of 33 carnivorous species, bears showed the most evidence of stress and psychological dysfunction in captivity. An Oxford University study ultimately concluded that "the keeping of naturally wide-ranging carnivores should be either fundamentally improved or phased out." But the requirements for bears' care currently fall under the AWA's minimum regulations for a wide variety of unspecified species, and the USDA is failing to use these generic regulations to protect bears.

In addition to a specific prohibition on keeping bears in abysmal concrete pit–style enclosures, PETA has proposed regulations that would require that bears be furnished with naturalistic habitats, dens for nesting and hibernation, pools for bathing, enough room to forage and explore, enrichment, and other elements that would improve bears' mental and physical well-being.

What You Can Do

Speak up for bears in captivity! Please join PETA in urging the USDA to formulate bear-specific standards to be added to the AWA.

In yet another important development in PETA's campaign to close down the shamefully dilapidated roadside zoos in Cherokee, North Carolina, and elsewhere, which confine bears to desolate pits and concrete pens, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just released a complaint detailing the charges that it has filed against Chief Saunooke Bear Park for more than a dozen violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). These charges come after PETA filed formal complaints with the agency and joined members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in meeting with the USDA to discuss the problems at this facility.

Unbearable

In April 2010, PETA submitted a report—prepared by leading bear experts who had visited the Cherokee bear zoos—to the USDA, documenting and detailing dozens of violations of the AWA at these wretched facilities.

The USDA charges include failure to provide food for public feeding that was appropriate to the type of animal and his or her nutritional needs, repeated failure to provide adequate veterinary care, housing animals in incompatible groups, and the use of dirty, unsanitary food receptacles—all of which were issues raised in PETA's expert report.

The agency also cited Chief Saunooke Bear Park (pit) for repeated failure to maintain adequate barriers between animals and the public so as to ensure the safety of both. This failure resulted in at least two attacks on visitors to the park, as detailed in a complaint that PETA hand-delivered to the USDA asking it to seek revocation of the zoo's license—and now it's finally doing so, as well as pursuing civil penalties and a cease-and-desist order.

What You Can Do

Please urge Michell Hicks, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, to close the pits now and retire the bears to an accredited sanctuary. And, of course, never patronize facilities that keep captive wildlife in cruel conditions.

After inspectors found animals kept in appalling conditions without proper care, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) cited two disreputable roadside zoos in North Carolina for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA). PETA keeps these two hellholes constantly in our sights and had just filed a complaint about Jambbas Ranch Tours before the inspection. 

Jambbas Ranch Tours

A USDA visit to Jambbas Ranch Tours last month following a PETA complaint led to a citation for AWA violations after inspectors discovered a thin elderly llama who had a "thick creamy discharge" oozing from an eye socket (the eye "has been gone for some years"). As PETA had told the USDA, the llama also appeared to be suffering from diarrhea—the animal had a large area of what appeared to be dried feces on the back legs but was given no medical treatment for these conditions.

The inspector also observed a raccoon whose tail and part of whose hindquarters showed complete hair loss, as PETA had reported. The animal was being given an ineffective flea- and tick-control medication, which wasn't prescribed by a vet as required by law. Immediate veterinary care was ordered to treat the raccoon's condition.

Cherokee Bear Zoo

An inspection of the Cherokee Bear Zoo last month resulted in a repeat citation for failure to feed a young tiger cub a healthy, edible, and contaminant-free diet. The cub is described as "small and underweight for its age. The coat looks dull, dry, and brittle."

The shabby animal prison (one of three around Cherokee, North Carolina) also received a citation for failure to vaccinate the same tiger cub. The operators were warned of the need to correct this failure "from this day forward."

Pathetic Prisons

Roadside zoos range from small menageries to large compounds—but they are all unhealthy environments for animals. The owners' focus is on their customers' desires, not the animals' needs, so neglect and abuse are common.

How You Can Help These Animals

These cruel operations stay in business only because people patronize them, so please never visit a roadside zoo, and encourage your family and friends to stay away too.

Thanks to the generosity of a kind PETA Vanguard Society member who was horrified after learning about the plight of bears at three miserable roadside zoos in Cherokee, North Carolina, PETA has been able to erect a billboard on busy Interstate 40 during the height of summer vacation season. The ad warns tourists that visiting Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, or Santa's Land, which all confine bears to barren concrete pits and pens, is not only cruel but also dangerous.

Please let the Cherokee Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Matthew Pegg know that Cherokee won’t be on your travel itinerary until the bears are retired to a sanctuary.
 

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

This is pitiful: The USDA recently cited two bear exhibits (Cherokee, North Carolina's Chief Saunooke Bear Park and Cherokee Bear Zoo) for gross violations of the Animal Welfare Act—again.

According to newly released USDA inspection reports, Chief Saunooke Bear Park was cited for failing to provide veterinary care to bears suffering from diarrhea and for feeding bears moldy, wilted food. The Cherokee Bear Zoo was cited for failing to provide veterinary care to a grizzly bear whose hair had been falling out for weeks.

Both facilities were also cited for hazardous cage conditions, such as exposure to electrical outlets and sharp, protruding metal that could cause injury. Uh, yeah, and what about keeping miserable animals with sharp teeth in captivity and letting kids get close to them?! In July, a 9-year-old girl was bitten by a bear at Chief Saunooke Bear Park.

After the incident, PETA erected a billboard featuring a little girl with a bloody bandage around her hand and the words "Warning: Children Bitten at Bear Pits. Bear Prisons: Dangerous for Children."

We've long complained that these unaccredited zoos prisons are unsuitable because they deny bears proper exercise, social interaction, and the ability to hibernate. Please help us close Cherokee's cruel bear pits by sending a personalized message to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' tourism agency.

Written by Heather Moore

For years, PETA has been appealing to the leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to do away with three roadside zoos in Cherokee, North Carolina, where bears are forced to live in concrete pits and cramped cages. Almost a year ago, we accompanied animal advocate Bob Barker to make a personal appeal to Principal Chief Michell Hicks, but even Bob was rebuffed. And despite our having presented the U.S. Department of Agriculture with reams of evidence that these cruel conditions violate the federal Animal Welfare Act, that agency has yet to act.

So we're changing our approach. Our private and public appeals to release the bears haven't convinced Cherokee leaders or federal officials that bears who pace back and forth, walk in circles, cry, whimper, fight with one another, and beg visitors for food are under extreme psychological and physical stress. But maybe if we hit the Cherokee leaders in the wallet, they just might rethink their decision to keep these animals in pits. So we are erecting four billboards on highways leading to Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa's Land imploring travelers to drive right past these awful tourist traps.

Please let the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians know that your vacation plans will take you right past Cherokee until the bears are retired to a sanctuary.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor