Of all the bears we have rescued in Armenia so far, Peter has to be the saddest of them all. Reports International Animal Rescue.
We found the little bear hidden away in the corner of a dark warehouse. The pitiful sight of him crouching on the filthy floor of his tiny cage broke our hearts.
Even in the dim light set up for the rescue, we could see how painfully thin he was under his dull fur.
It is hard to imagine how poor Peter has survived such terrible neglect.
The filthy cage at the back of the warehouse proved that no one had given him any attention or care for a very long time. The door to his cage was padlocked. Food must have been thrown in to him through the bars.
The corner of the warehouse where Peter was being kept was in complete darkness until we rigged up an electric light to carry out his rescue. That poor bear had spent his life in the dark, not knowing whether it was day or night. We could weep at the thought of his suffering.
In spite of his horrible existence behind bars, Peter showed no aggression when we approached him. In fact, he seemed sweet-natured and inquisitive, perhaps daring to hope that help was at hand.
When we got closer, we realised that the floor of the cage had rusted right through in several places. It was a miracle Peter hadn’t cut or injured himself on the jagged metal holes! We all breathed a sigh of relief when the vet had sedated the poor little bear and he could be removed safely from his squalid, lonely prison.
It is too early to tell what emotional and physical damage Peter has suffered since he was caught from the wild as a cub and locked up in that ghastly cage. But he is in safe hands now and in the care of our vets and keepers who are monitoring his condition, feeding him a nutritious diet and giving him expert treatment and care.
