Taken in as cubs, two bears have been living in a small trash-ridden cage at a restaurant in Sochi, Russia, for over 20 years. In an effort to help the bears, some local animal advocates notified Anna Kogan, founder of Big Hearts Foundation (BHF), an animal welfare organization that helps animal causes in Russia.
BHF worked along with the Prosecutor General in Sochi to get the bears released and sent to a sanctuary and, on February 3, 2015, the court ruled in favor of the bears.
The Story of Misha and Pasha
Never receiving veterinary care and given inappropriate food–as well as alcohol by restaurant patrons–the two male bears, named Misha and Pasha, have become addicted to alcohol.
Taken in as cubs, two bears have been living in a small trash-ridden cage at a restaurant in Sochi, Russia, for over 20 years. In an effort to help the bears, some local animal advocates notified Anna Kogan, founder of Big Hearts Foundation (BHF), an animal welfare organization that helps animal causes in Russia.
BHF worked along with the Prosecutor General in Sochi to get the bears released and sent to a sanctuary and, on February 3, 2015, the court ruled in favor of the bears.
The Story of Misha and Pasha
Never receiving veterinary care and given inappropriate food–as well as alcohol by restaurant patrons–the two male bears, named Misha and Pasha, have become addicted to alcohol.
Their life together has been one of abuse and neglect. The cage they were housed in does not permit them to perform normal bear behaviors like foraging for food and hibernation. Years of patrons parking directly in front of the cages at night time and flashing headlights in their eyes has caused one bear to become blind. Their emotional needs have been so thwarted they will physically fight each other, causing them both serious injuries. What a horrible life these innocent bears have been made to suffer!
Kogan told Care2 that Misha and Pasha were given to the restaurant owner as cubs by a photographer. A common practice on Sochi beaches is for photographers to take pictures of tourists with baby wild animals like bears, lions, leopards and crocodiles. Then, when the season is over, the baby animals are usually killed.
A Look to the Future
The current plan is for Misha and Pasha to be transported to Liberty Bear Sanctuary (LBS) located up in the Carpathian Mountains above the town of Zarnesti in the Transylvania area of Romania. LBS was established in 1998 and has rehabilitated many abused bears since then. Some were baiting bears who were chained and secured to the ground while hunting dogs are made to attack them. LBS has even successfully rehabilitated other alcoholic bears at its sanctuary.
The problem is, their transfer is currently held up due to the logistics of transporting the bears out of Russia to another country.
Photo credit Care2.
Read moreat ENN Affiliate Care2.
