Feds Charge Chief Saunooke Bear Park With 14 Animal Welfare Violations

After PETA Complaints, USDA Seeks Fines, Suspension of License, and Cease-and-Desist Order for Notorious Exhibitor

For Immediate Release:
September 18, 2012

Contact:
Sophia Charchuk 202-483-7382 

Cherokee, N.C. -- After multiple complaints from PETA regarding the cruel and negligent treatment of bears kept in barren concrete pits at Chief Saunooke Bear Park (CSBP), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has charged CSBP with 14 violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) for failing to provide the bears with adequate housing, food, and veterinary care, among other abuses. In its complaint, available here, the USDA seeks revocation or suspension of CSBP's license, civil penalties, and a cease-and-desist order. PETA had also provided the USDA with a 62-page report from ursine experts who visited the pits and observed the condition and living conditions of the bears.

"The USDA has confirmed that Chief Saunooke deprives the bears in its concrete pits of even their most basic needs, all the way down to proper food and shelter," says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. "This cruel outfit should be stripped of its license, and the bears should be allowed to be bears again."

Bears at CSBP and other roadside zoos in Cherokee pace neurotically in concrete pits or tiny pens, where they have no opportunity to climb, forage, den, or express other natural behavior. In April 2010, PETA submitted a report prepared by four bear experts who had visited CSBP, documenting dozens of apparent violations of the AWA, several of which are cited in the USDA's complaint, including:

• Repeated failure to maintain an adequate barrier between bears and the public, leading to at least two attacks on visitors to the park
• Failure to supply food for public feeding that meets bears' nutritional needs (visitors have been encouraged to feed the bears cat food and Lucky Charms)
• Repeated failure to offer adequate veterinary care
• Feeding the bears out of dirty, unsanitary food receptacles
• Housing bears in incompatible groups, resulting in aggression among the animals

For more information, please visit PETA.org.