Chief Saunooke Bear Park USDA License Suspended

January 2013

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has suspended Chief Saunooke’s license and fined it $20,000 for inhumane conditions. PETA has submitted complaints about the park to the USDA for years concerning numerous animal welfare issues and has actively campaigned against this establishment, along with two other bear pits in Cherokee, for years. We recently also released the results of an undercover investigation that we conducted at this squalid roadside zoo.

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 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind