Gov’t Cites Sportsmen’s Club Again for Inadequate Vet Care

Morbidly Obese Bear Shown in Recent PETA Video Is Still Suffering From Dental Disease

For Immediate Release:
August 28, 2019

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has inspected the Union County Sportsmen’s Club and issued it with a new citation for failing to provide an Asiatic black bear named Dillan with adequate veterinary care, PETA has learned.

According to the newly released July 25 inspection report, Dillan was found with hair loss along his sides and hindquarters—and the facility had failed to contact a veterinarian about the issue. PETA submitted a complaint to the USDA on August 16, including photos and video footage documenting that Dillan continued to suffer from irritated skin, broken teeth that are evidence of advanced dental disease, and morbid obesity—he appears to be at least 400 pounds overweight—as well as alopecia (lost or torn-out hair). He’s confined to a concrete-floored cage—which can lead to serious physical maladies—without stimulation or the opportunity to perform natural types of behavior, and he engages in near-constant stereotypical rocking behavior, a sign of extreme psychological distress. Other animals in need of veterinary evaluation and treatment at the club include deer with patchy hair loss and an overweight bobcat with a matted coat who’s kept confined to a cramped concrete-floored cage.

“The Union County Sportsmen’s Club either can’t or won’t provide the animals it keeps in cages on its property with even basic, required care,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA’s offer to foot all the costs to have these animals moved to reputable sanctuaries where they would receive proper care stands, and we urge the club to do what’s right by them.”

The USDA has repeatedly cited the Sportsmen’s Club for failing to provide Dillan with adequate veterinary care for all the health issues listed above as well as for failing to have a sufficient number of adequately trained employees, failing to provide animals with an appropriate diet, and failing to clean enclosures adequately. None of these issues had been corrected as of PETA’s most recent visit to the facility on August 14.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.