Jun08
Bob Barker Is a Bear's Best Bud
Posted at 11:36 AM | Permalink
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Comments (18)
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Not to get all "the price is wrong" on you or anything, but in Cherokee, North Carolina, there are three "tourist attractions" that keep bears in grossly inhumane conditions. The neurotic, hungry bears are confined to desolate concrete pits in which they pace back and forth, walk in endless circles, cry and whimper, fight with one another, and beg tourists to toss them a morsel of food.
What do these tourist traps have to do with Bob Barker? As a compassionate person of Native American descent (he spent much of his youth at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota), Bob has requested a meeting with the principal chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation to discuss an end to the town's displays of bears in pits and cages.
As he wrote to Principal Chief Hicks, "Cherokee has so much to offer, such as its beautiful mountains, museums, cultural and historical exhibits, Native American shops, friendly residents, and casino. The caged bears may have been a big attraction at one time but are now seen as an embarrassment to the community and should be permanently closed down."
To join Bob in asking that the cruel bear pits be closed down, please send a respectful letter to Principal Chief Hicks letting him know that bears should be respected, not left in a pit to languish.
Posted by Amanda Schinke
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I love Bob Barker. I always watch him in Price is Right as a child and I love him. I never knew how much he loved animals and now I am so Proud to be his greatest fan.
Posted by: roxanne | June 8, 2009 01:00 PM
Dear Principal Chief Hicks,
I would like to request that you discontinue the exhibit of bears in concrete pits in Cherokee, N.C.
As a person with some Native American blood, I am sorry to see animals shown and kept in such sad circumstances by Native Americans.
I would be unhappy to see anyone keep bears in such circumstances.
Please consider discontinuing the bear exhibit.
Thank you
Posted by: Kathryn Baker | June 8, 2009 02:08 PM
This is not surprising in light of the fact that Bob Barker is a longstanding humane vegetarian whose donated enormous amounts of money to animal welfare causes.
Posted by: Brien Comerford | June 8, 2009 02:23 PM
This is so sad but this has been going on for many years. Western north carolina there some towns that have no animal control.Dogs and cats toss out like trash that nobody wants.I have seen these places and so sad poor animals and the way they live.
Posted by: dawn | June 8, 2009 05:10 PM
I thought the Indians respected nature and wild animals? This is very disappointing. This sideshow act thing is very much a European thing.
Posted by: kelly | June 8, 2009 05:34 PM
We love you, Bob. If only everybody could be like you.
Posted by: Sarah | June 9, 2009 10:30 AM
Growing up, I would watch The Price is Right show. I always admired Bob Barker because he is so compassionate towards animals.Thank You Bob for who you are and what you stand for!!
I'm going to write to the Chief and ask that the bear pits be closed,once and for all.I would love to visit Cherokee and see the museums and the living history village.But the bear pits would leave a bitter memory of my visit to Cherokee
Posted by: Cindy | June 9, 2009 07:23 PM
I love Bob. I wish he would come up to Eureka, California and free Rosemary the bear from her solitary confinement in a cement hole. The Sequoia Park Zoo is hideous and should be closed down. It kept Bill the chimp in solitary confinement where he died a lonely death.
Posted by: Mara | June 9, 2009 10:16 PM
Unfortunately there are places like this all over the country.
When I was touring the United States in 2001, my husband and I had to stop to repair our RV at a place called "The White Tiger Truck Stop" in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Guess why they called it that. Yep, they had white tigers caged in one of the buildings, which you could pay a WHOLE DOLLAR to see, and they were auctioning off tiger cubs to the truckers. I asked one of the workers what really happened to the cubs they sold (I had trouble believing this was not a joke) and I was told that what the trucker decided to do with the cub after he or she bought it was their business. They did not follow up on the cubs well being. When the RV was repaired we could not get out of there fast enough. All roadside attractions need to be shut down.
Posted by: Rev. Meg Schramm | June 10, 2009 11:19 AM
I am responding to the Bob Barker -Best Bud message.
writing to ask if you would please show compassion for the welfare of these bears.
Posted by: KBurton | June 12, 2009 08:59 AM
Dear Sirs,
If you must have an exhibit to attract tourists, do you think you could upgrade the one you have for the bears? Perhaps release them to a large acre farm with close circuit TV so they can be watched in the wild?
Bears in the wild are so much more interesting! Than you. Laurie Ibarra
Posted by: Laurie J. Ibarra | June 12, 2009 09:19 AM
meg your story is so awful. i wonder if there is anyone you can call to report the illegal sale of exotic animals. i wonder if PETA would be interested in researching this specific truck stop. (white) tigers are highly endangered and one of the most majestic creatures on the planet. perhaps you could contact an organization who deals with specifically with punishing individuals who threaten/abuse endangered species??
Posted by: cara | June 15, 2009 05:20 AM
I am sooo happy someone is taking this cause up. Many years ago I came to Cherokee and saw these bear pits by accident and have never gotten over it. Years later I now live in Asheville and have been to Cherokee many times and it still saddens me that the pits are still there. I think Chief Hicks is a good person and I would hope he would do something about this. I to thought the Indians cared about nature and the wonderful wildlife were lucky to have in our area.
Posted by: Linda | June 17, 2009 08:04 PM
As a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, I agree that the conditions of these bears is horrible. The bear is the sacred animal of the Cherokee and I know that we as a tribe would not intentionally hurt them. I believe ignorance plays a major role in how these bear and other animals are cared for at these places.
This is a very upsetting matter and something that should have been acted upon years ago. I ask you not to slam the tribe but offer help and encouragement that will help us to establish a proper Humane Society.
I have contacted PETA and hope future talks will lead to establishing proper animal humane laws and getting our animal shelter up to par.
Posted by: Nathan | July 6, 2009 04:00 PM
Laurie J. thank you for your post. The Eastern Band of the Cherokee had once talked about creating a wildlife preserve here on tribal lands. Using our beautiful tribal lands to create a place for visitors to see these animals in their natural setting. It would also benefit to educate people on how these animals impeacted Cherokee life.
I ask you to write Chief Hicks and encourage him to push this wildlife preserve from a thought to a reality.
Posted by: Nathan | July 6, 2009 05:01 PM
I am a resident of Cherokee NC and i see first hand the way things are at the bear museums. They are not inhumane, but they are a huge attraction- not only for tourists but local residents as well. As for myself, my family and friends, we love going to see the bears, it's a big part of our life and i'd hate to see them go.
Posted by: Bobby | July 28, 2009 10:06 AM
why is bob trying to get ever one to boycott Cherokee he just need to lever cherokee and are bears along if he moves them they well day you take a bear that been in the bare museums and one that is out in the woods see which one is better health.....
Posted by: bobby | July 31, 2009 07:46 PM
Bob is Barking up the wrong tree. He should have spoken to the people who own the businesses that house these bears. Going to the Chief is like going to the President to close the zoos in America.
Posted by: marina robbins | August 10, 2009 07:56 AM