PETA AU Global 2020 Issue 2

I spend every day saving bears, tigers, and others from roadside zoos. But some days, I think back on animals whose stories didn’t have a happy ending – like Smoky, a bear my family and I often visited when I was a kid. He lived in a cramped, round cage in a park near my hometown, and we used to watch him pace around inside it. He lived during a time when few people spoke out against keeping animals in such inhumane conditions. It didn’t occur to me then that he was deprived of anything, even though there was virtually nothing to keep him occupied other than a tire swing and a bowling ball. He died in that enclosure, without ever having set foot outside it for who knows how long. Eventually, I realized that bears deserve much more than to be locked up for human amusement, and now that I work for the PETA Foundation, I’m committed to rescuing animals held captive by roadside zoos, traveling shows, and the film and television industries. To date, PETA has secured the release of 73 bears from roadside zoos and traveling shows and facilitated their transfer to reputable sanctuaries, and it won’t stop until all such tawdry animal displays are a relic of the past. I’m also determined to get big cats, chimpanzees, and other species released from these places. One major goal is to set a precedent in a US court making it clear that big cat cub encounters violate federal law. In just one year, PETA rescued 39 tigers from decrepit conditions, and two more, Luna and Remington, went to their new home at an accredited sanctuary this past January.

Besides Smoky, there was another bear I spent a lot of time with in my childhood: a North American black bear who had been shot and killed by my father. That’s me playing on the bearskin rug in the photo. Thankfully, we can all grow and change. My dad put away his hunting rifle not long after that picture was taken. I changed, too. Today, I stand up for animals who are suffering. And so can you.

Butterfly Badge: ©iStock.com/Petchjira

A New Life for Dillan

During the transfer of one animal rescued by PETA to his new home in a sanctuary, Brittany had a special visitor: Dr. Jane Goodall!

For 10 agonizing years, Dillan the bear was confined to a cramped, concrete floored cage at a “sportsmen’s” club in Pennsylvania – right next to a noisy shooting range. He was morbidly obese, had life-threatening dental issues, and repeatedly rocked back and forth, a sign of extreme psychological distress. But following a vigorous PETA campaign – which included TV and radio ads, actions taken by supporters, multiple complaints to the USDA, and an open letter from Alec Baldwin to Pennsylvania’s governor urging him to intervene – Dillan was freed and sent to an accredited sanctuary. such severe dental issues and obesity in a bear. But Dillan is recovering: On his first full day at the sanctuary, he stopped his repetitive rocking and embraced his new surroundings, relishing feasts of fresh fruit, splashing in his pool, and building his The sanctuary’s founder said that in 40 years of rescuing animals, he’d never seen

Take Action Now Oswald’s Bear Ranch in Michigan – my home state – acquires bear cubs who have

been torn away from their mothers and forces them to pose for photos with tourists. Several have died prematurely at this disreputable facility, and half a dozen or more have even been slaughtered. Please visit PETA.org/Oswalds today to tell the seedy roadside zoo that it’s time to shutter its cruel operation and let all its captive animals go to accredited sanctuaries.

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Page Tear: ©iStock.com/yasinguneysu • Dillan: ©The Wild Animal Sanctuary • Alec Baldwin: ©Starmaxinc.com • Governer Wolf: ©iStock.com/gsheldon

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By Brittany Peet, PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement How a Sad, Lonely Bear Inspired Me to Fight for Animals Brittany playing on her father’s bearskin rug U S E A F L A P

Dillan was rescued just days after PETA friend Alec Baldwin and Pennsylvania Gov. TomWolf took up his cause.

own soft straw bed. He finally

gets to enjoy the life he always deserved. PETA is pushing for his abusers to be charged with cruelty to animals.

Global

16 SHE CARES FOR BEARS

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