A few days back, a photograph showing a chained bear hugging a child of the bear owner appeared in a leading newspaper with the caption “Bear Hug.” The picture immediately attracted my attention as the practice of using bears to fight with dogs and other unbecoming practices by the bear beaters to earn money is going on for years despite the efforts of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) to protect these animals from suffering and barbaric treatment.
I immediately wrote to the newspaper editor, drawing their attention to their correspondent’s mindset that had shot the scene for amusement of others rather than projecting the harm and cruelty done to the animals. Obviously the letter was not printed in the newspaper.
Those who care for these poor animals may have read about the ravaging of the Kund Park Bear sanctuary in the Khyber Pakhtunkwa province during the last floods, in which of the 23 rescued bears from the bear beaters, only three could be rescued, while the 20 unlucky perished in the muddy waters of the floods. The sanctuary is so badly devastated that it would take a long time for its reestablishment. The surviving bears have now been accommodated in another sanctuary located at Balkasar.
It is time now that we say no to such feats and display of animals being used to earn money. The wild animals have to undergo a torturous training to tame their wildness and pacify their animal instincts so that these can be used and tortured again for their display in public. One of the most cruel things done to these bears is that they are tied to a pole and made to “fight” with the dogs who are lose. How can a chained bear fight with a loose dog? I am sure if the bear was also loose; he wouldn’t let the dog last long.
If you find a chained bear being used for earning money, please notify the nearest office of the World Society for the Protection of Animals, so that these could be rescued and placed in the sanctuaries for protection in environment close to their natural habitat.
Related Reading: Floods ravage the Kund Park Bear Sanctuary
The post originally published at: The Fire Within
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