2013 – Chief Saunooke Bear Park

After years of imprisonment in concrete pits at Chief Saunooke Bear Park in Cherokee, North Carolina, 11 bears were finally freed following a years-long campaign and PETA undercover investigation that forced the roadside zoo to pay a fine and surrender its exhibitor’s license to settle more than a dozen charges for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. After a private benefactor generously offered to purchase the bears, they were quickly transferred to their new home at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary in Dallas, where they can now walk through tall grass, dig in the dirt, climb trees, take a dip in a pond, and just live as bears are supposed to live.