PETA Sting Exposes Cruelty, Racism, Drug Use, Wage-Law Violations, and More at Bear Pits

Bob Barker Narrates New Video Exposé of Chief Saunooke Bear Park

For Immediate Release:
January 7, 2013

Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382

Cherokee, N.C. -- A PETA undercover investigation has documented systemic neglect, deprivation, and abuse of bears as well as an employee who called Native Americans "long-distance corn niggers" and the facility's manager, who admitted to a secret policy against hiring Native Americans. Add to that drug use by one employee, sexual harassment by another, and employees being paid cash under the table in violation of federal law, and you've got the picture at Chief Saunooke Bear Park (CSBP).

PETA documented that staff were deliberately depriving bears of food and denying them proper veterinary care. In addition, bears are so stressed by their constant confinement in small, virtually barren concrete pits that they turn in tight circles, pace endlessly, repetitively bob and weave, and gnaw at metal cage bars, breaking their teeth—all well-recognized signs of suffering.

PETA has submitted its evidence to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and TV icon and animal activist Bob Barker, who has narrated new video footage (available here), is joining PETA in calling for CSBP's bears to be confiscated and relocated to an accredited sanctuary without delay. In the video, a CSBP bear keeper was caught threatening to "knock out" a USDA veterinarian and saying that he would "like to just smack the living dogs**t out of" her. The same bear keeper reports that it took "20 shots … in the head" to kill a bear who attacked a worker—and that he ate the bear afterward.

"CSBP has denied these bears the opportunity to express every natural behavior, from resting in a proper den to foraging and roaming," says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. "PETA stands ready to assist the USDA in getting these miserable animals out of the cement pits and to a sanctuary, where they will finally get to be bears."

Last summer, the USDA charged CSBP with 14 violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The agency is seeking revocation or suspension of CSBP's license. PETA is also filing formal complaints with other agencies regarding discriminatory hiring practices, failure to pay workers minimum wage, sexual harassment, and more.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.