Four Paws
August 2018
The last dancing bear in the Ukraine has been rescued by FOUR PAWS. Kristina's days of being paraded around by her owner are over as she settles into the Domazhyr bear sanctuary.
The last dancing bear in the Ukraine has been rescued by FOUR PAWS, the
international animal welfare organization. For the bear named Kristina, her
days of being paraded around by her owner in restaurants and travelling
circuses have finally come to an end.
Two weeks ago, Kristina was due to make an appearance in Ivano Frankove in
Western Ukraine. Moments before her appearance, Ukrainian authorities
confiscated her with supervision of FOUR PAWS. Following Kristina’s
confiscation, hour-long negotiations with Kristina’s uncooperative owner
took place. In the end, police and environmental inspectors had to intervene
and seize the bear. FOUR PAWS immediately brought Kristina to the
newly-built BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr near Lviv, where she will now be
monitored by veterinary experts and can find peace and quiet.
“Kristina is doing well under the circumstances but her physical condition
is not ideal. We suspect that she is a relatively old bear and may have an
eyesight problem,” shared FOUR PAWS Bear Expert Carsten Hertwig. “At first,
we brought Kristina into an indoor enclosure so she could get used to her
new surroundings and our bear keepers. After careful observation, we decided
to release her to her outdoor enclosure on her second day with us.”
Kristina spent most of her life trapped inside a tiny cage in her owner’s
van, where the temperature reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Her owner forced
her to perform in circuses or in pedestrian areas repeatedly. In winter when
the entertainment season was over, Kristina was kept in a tiny, unsanitary
shed on the site of a fish factory. Today, however, she has enough space to
move around as much as she wants.
“Rescuing Kristina has been a huge milestone for FOUR PAWS,” stated FOUR
PAWS USA Executive Director Robert Ware. “With Kristina’s rescue, all
captive dancing bears in the Ukraine have been rescued. Our organization is
proud to have a global impact and to provide hope for the animal welfare
industry.”
FOUR PAWS is in the process of building a new bear sanctuary near the
Ukrainian town Lviv, which will house up to thirty bears. The first
construction phase of BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr will finish in fall of 2017.
When completed, up to six rescued bears will find a home in a 19 acre
enclosure. More construction work will be done in the coming years, and when
finished, the site will encompass 50 acres.
At the beginning of July, FOUR PAWS rescued another Ukrainian bear named Potap and brought him to BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr as its first resident. The former restaurant bear had been abandoned by his owner, and was only being fed meager amounts of food. Now, both Potap and Kristina can recover from their suffering at BEAR SANCTUARY Domazhyr, where they can finally lead a happy life.
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