Here’s the press release:
PETA has hand-delivered a letter to Tom Vilsack, secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), urging him to revoke the exhibitor’s license of Chief Saunooke Bear Park (CSBP) in Cherokee, N.C., for repeatedly endangering the public. PETA obtained a copy of a July 21 USDA inspection report stating that a 9-year-old girl was bitten at the park when she was allowed to come into direct contact with a 6-month-old bear during the USDA’s inspection. The child suffered wounds that the USDA described as “scratches on the palm and back of the hand and tooth marks at the wrist bone.” PETA’s complaint comes just one week after a bear belonging to notorious animal exhibitor Sam Mazzola fatally mauled a 24-year-old Ohio man.
“Frustrated bears, who have been denied everything that’s natural and important to them, are likely to bite,” says PETA Director Debbie Leahy. “We are calling on the government to revoke this inhumane enterprise’s license.”
The following are just some of CSBP’s recent safety violations:
* October 29, 2008: As a result of a complaint from PETA, which documented that only a chain-link fence separated two bear cubs and two wolves from the public, the USDA cited CSBP for unsafe animal handling.
* December 16, 2009: Following a bear attack on a 75-year-old caretaker at the park, the USDA cited CSBP for having inadequately trained its employees.
* July 2010: According to the USDA inspection report, the July 21 incident involving the 9-year-old girl was the second documented bite at CSPB in just one week.
PETA notes that the situation at CSPB is a prime example of one of the findings of a June 2010 Office of Inspector General Audit, which concluded that the USDA cannot adequately ensure the safety of the public at zoos.
The bears at the park also suffer. CSBP was recently cited for risking serious injury to animals by maintaining unsafe enclosures, feeding bears cat food and Lucky Charms cereal, reusing filthy food trays, and other violations.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.