Casey Affleck–Voiced Robot Bear to Urge Tourists: ‘Stay Away From Bear Pits!’

PETA Asks People to Take Action Against Local Roadside Zoo

For Immediate Release:
June 22, 2016

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Voiced by Boston native and Manchester by the Sea star Casey Affleck, “Bernard”—PETA’s 7-foot-tall robotic bear—will be in Boston on Thursday with a message for tourists: Stay a mile away from Clark’s Trading Post in New Hampshire and any other tourist trap that still confines bears to barren concrete pits or tiny pens.

Where:           At the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth streets, in front of the Boston Public Library, Boston

When:             Thursday, June 23, 12 noon–1 p.m.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—will display banners showing bears confined to cramped pits and pens, where they endure psychological distress and suffer from arthritis, pressure sores, and other painful, debilitating conditions. Since 2012, PETA has successfully worked to close down two other bear pits and move 56 captive bears from pits and tiny pens to sanctuaries—where they are finally free to roam, forage, climb, and swim.

“Bears belong with their families in nature, not on display in filthy concrete pits,” says Affleck. “PETA’s remarkable animatronic bear will do wonders this summer to show kids and their parents why everyone should stay away from these cruel tourist traps.”

PETA will next head to New Hampshire to protest Clark’s Trading Post directly, followed by Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, Georgia.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.