VIDEO: Chained Bear Tormented at Illegal Hunting Training Facility in Russia

In 2018, Russia banned the practice of using wild animals—who are often tethered, muzzled, or otherwise restrained—as bait to train dogs used for hunting. But despite the nationwide ban, Russian animal advocates have recently obtained shocking footage of dogs attacking a chained brown bear at one of these illegal hunting training stations southwest of Moscow, a region that’s allegedly home to at least 18 of these facilities.

The video shows the two dogs barking, snapping, and pacing around a bear, who appears to be trying to defend himself. Reportedly, this same facility was also holding a badger and boar to torment in training exercises. It’s clear that none of these animals—including dogs, who often face painful punishments when trained for hunting—want to be forced into these violent and dangerous interactions.

Hunting tears families apart and often causes victims to endure slow, painful deaths. It also desensitizes humans to cruelty. Russian authorities need to do more to enforce the ban on baiting stations, which is why PETA Germany has urged President Vladimir Putin to take action immediately.

Animals Are Not Ours to Exploit—Take Action Now!

The owner of Minnesota Wildlife Connection Inc.—a shady wildlife fauxtography game farm with a history of violating animal welfare and wildlife protection laws—pleaded guilty to two felony counts for guiding hunters to shoot bears at baiting stations that he was illegally maintaining within a national wildlife refuge.

Even though his license was subsequently revoked, he’s still illegally running his phony photo operation in violation of federal law. Urge photographers to cut ties with the cruel company: