PETA protests Cherokee bear pits with Obama motorcade demonstration

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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PETA image of captive bear

Whatever you think about PETA, the Cherokee bear pits it protests today are a disgrace. PETA protests the treatment of Cherokee’s captive bears of Chief Saunooke Bear Park today as the president visits South Asheville.

The “park” has been fined, but the bears remain kept in concrete pits.

From a PETA press release:

ANGRY ‘BEAR’ TRAILS OBAMA TO ASHEVILLE

PETA Calls On President to Order Confiscation of Animals From Abusive Bear Pits in Cherokee, N.C.

What:  Holding a sign reading, “Tell USDA to Close N.C. Bear Pits,” a PETA “bear” will follow President Obama as he prepares to give a speech at the Linamar auto-parts plant in Arden on Wednesday. The determined bruin’s point? That following a PETA undercover investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suspended Cherokee-based Chief Saunooke Bear Park’s (CSBP) exhibitor’s license and slapped the abusive facility with a $20,000 fine but left the bears in place, allowing them to continue to suffer. PETA is calling on President Obama to order the USDA to seize the bears and transfer them to a sanctuary. The bears at CSBP are kept in barren concrete pits, where they circle and pace, and many have been denied adequate veterinary care, including a bear with an open cut on her face and others with broken teeth from chewing on the cage bars. One employee was caught on tape saying that it took “20 shots … square in the head” to kill a bear from CSBP and even boasted about eating the bears.

“Bears at CSBP are suffering, and the government needs to get them out of there,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Delcianna Winders. “PETA is calling on President Obama to order the USDA to do its job and remove these animals from this hellhole.”

Where:  Outside the Linamar plant, 2169 Hendersonville Rd. (near the intersection with Lake Julian Road), Arden

When: Wednesday, February 13, 9:30 a.m.

Your coverage is invited. RSVP to Shakira Croce at 718-204-0423 or[email protected].

For more information, please visit PETA.org.