. In Sochi, Russia’s Black Sea city, two bears lived in horrendous conditions for more than 20years. Both bears are alcoholic because the owner of their restaurant encouraged them to drink. The court had ordered that the owner of one of the blind males be taken from them earlier this month. With the help of other charities, including La Fondation Brigitte Bardot and Big Hearts Foundation, the animals will be transported to Romanian sanctuary. He had previously tried to keep them. Because Sochi is a cold city, he had stated that alcohol is good for them. One of the two blind bears has lived in this cage for more than 20years. Image: Big Hearts Foundation. The Libearty Bear Sanctuary promises to provide specialist treatment for the bears’ alcohol dependence. For most of their lives, they have been living in an unsanitary cage near the restaurant. It took some time for Sochi officials to have their travel documents ready. According to the BBC, Anna Kogan (head of Big Hearts Foundation) stated that although the court has given permission to remove them, there are no places to place them in Sochi. It is a costly process to transport them abroad.” However, the charity claims it still needs help in getting the bears across to Sochi by boat. Ms. Kogan said: “The people there worked with dancing bears… it is possible.” Libearty Bear Sanctuary Cristina Lapis spotted three bears 1998 inside a cage near a Romanian restaurant. These bears were used to lure customers. She learned that there were many bears in the United States used for this purpose. The Libearty bear sanctuary has 70 rescue animals. Image: Libearty bear Sanctuary. She made the decision to rescue and try to improve public attitudes in order to end this illegal and cruel exploitation of one our beautiful native species. The Sanctuary’s website states that the sanctuary has realized its dream with more 70 bears living in the Libearty Bear Sanctuary, 70 acres of oak and hazel forests in the Carpathian Mountains, above Zarnesti. “The bears can climb trees and swim in the pool, and the animals forage in the forest. Many bears were captured from the wild as cubs. This is an exciting experience for them. Donate to Big Hearts Foundation. Video: Customers feed the bears
