PETA Statement: Oswald’s Is a Death Trap for Bears

For Immediate Release:
June 20, 2019

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Below, please find a statement from PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet in response to the death of Sophie, a juvenile bear who was bred in captivity, used as a cub for photo ops, and shot after escaping an enclosure at Oswald’s Bear Ranch:

Yet another bear has died prematurely at Oswald’s Bear Ranch, where bears have been trapped in a collapsed den, suffered a “drug overdose,” and suddenly died from unknown or undisclosed causes, and half a dozen more have been slaughtered—as Oswald’s told a state inspector in 2017, a “mean” bear should be “made into jerky.” Oswald’s is a death trap for bears, and PETA urges all kind people to stay away.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment,” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—also notes that the USDA’s own Office of the Inspector General has repeatedly condemned the agency for its ineffective enforcement of the federal Animal Welfare Act, so the agency’s failure to take action in response to this bear’s death comes as no surprise.

More information about Oswald’s Bear Ranch is available here.