Girl was bitten while feeding baby bear at Eastern Cherokee zoo

Friday, July 22, 2011  

A nine-year-old girl was bitten in the hand while feeding a baby bear at a zoo run by a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The girl is now the star of a new billboard from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. She's pictured crying, with a bandage on her hand.

“Children Bitten at Bear Pits," warns the billboard to people who might visit the reservation, The Asheville Citizen-Times reported.

The tactic is apparently working. “It's affected my business earnings,” the owner of one of the three bear zoos on the reservation told the paper. “PETA is doing a lot of harm to my family.”

The Department of Agriculture inspects the zoos to ensure they comply with federal law. An inspector happened to be at the Chief Saunooke Bear Park when the girl was bitten.

Get the Story:
PETA strikes Cherokee bear zoos with new sign (The Asheville Citizen-Times 7/22)