 |
INTRODUCTION |  |
CAMPAIGN UPDATES |  |
THE CIRCUSES | |
GET ACTIVE | |
FREE DVD | |
DONATE NOW |  |
 |
History of PETA’s Victorious Campaign to Free Seven Polar Bears From a Tropical CircusIn November 2002, PETA’s efforts to help rescue seven polar bears traveling with the Mexico-based Suarez Bros. Circus from unbearable conditions finally paid off. U.S. and Puerto Rican officials seized the bears from the circus, citing violations of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act. A seventh bear named Alaska was seized in March, after Suarez Bros. presented the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with fraudulent documentation of her origin, and was flown to the Baltimore Zoo, where she is thriving. The circus was transporting the polar bears—nomadic Arctic animals—in small cages and making them perform in hot, humid regions of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. PETA obtained videotape showing the overheated polar bears panting constantly while being hit and whipped in order to force them to perform ridiculous, degrading tricks. The bears were skinny, lethargic, filthy, and diseased. In October 1998, an emaciated polar bear endured a prolonged and agonizing death after a severe case of heartworm went untreated for months.Since the circus entered Puerto Rico in June 2001, PETA repeatedly warned federal agencies that suffocating heat and humidity was causing the polar bears extreme suffering. PETA worked with local humane societies to monitor the polar bears and educate the public, and we received comments from veterinarians and marine mammal experts who expressed grave concern for their well-being and feared that the bears were at risk of physical injury. In August 2001, the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources, working with the Puerto Rico Federation for the Protection of Animals, filed cruelty charges against the Suarez Bros. Circus. Rangers report that the bears were being kept in filthy cages with no relief from temperatures that reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit. In a decision that was not consistent with the overwhelming evidence presented, a judge in Ponce, Puerto Rico, failed to find the Suarez Bros. Circus guilty of animal cruelty. On February 28, 2002, the judgment was issued abruptly and without deliberation despite a flimsy case presented by the defense and irrefutable evidence presented by the prosecutor, which included videotape and testimony by eyewitnesses, a veterinarian from the Detroit Zoo with extensive polar bear experience, and other experts. The Suarez Bros. Circus has been in violation of both the federal Animal Welfare Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act since it reached U.S. soil. Citing the clear intent of the U.S. Congress to protect exotic wildlife in captivity, PETA filed a lawsuit on November 5, 2001, against the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to enforce federal laws and confiscate the polar bears. Authorization from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to reexport the bears to the Caribbean island of Saint Maarten (part of Netherlands Antilles) is pending.
You can help stop the suffering of elephants, tigers, and other animals abused in the name of "entertainment." Click here to support PETA's vital work. |
l
 Printer-Friendly
l
E-Mail This Page
l
Subscribe to E-News
|
| About PETA Privacy Policy Disclaimer PETA Web Sites |
 |