Officers Stop Traffic on I-26 to Allow Mother Bear to Retrieve Body of Dead Cub

For Immediate Release:
November 6, 2008

Contact:
Lindsay Rajt 757-622-7382

Woodfin, N.C. -- For stopping traffic on busy Interstate 26 so that a mother bear could retrieve the body of her dead cub, the Woodfin Police Department will receive PETA's Compassionate Police Department Award.

According to news reports, the bear cub was struck and killed on the highway sometime around noon last Tuesday. Motorists reported that the cub's mother was attempting to cross busy traffic lanes to reach the cub. Police officers who arrived on the scene closed that section of highway and dragged the cub's body to the side of the road where the mother bear was able to approach the cub safely and carry the body into the woods.

"Thanks to the Woodfin police officers' compassionate action, a mother bear was able to tend to her baby in peace," says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "Woodfin is very fortunate to have police officers who stand ready to protect the town's human and wildlife residents."

For more information, please visit PETA's Web site HelpingAnimals.com.