For immediate release:
August 2, 2021
Contact:
Moira Collie 202-483-7382
Angels – Learning from PETA that two bears were used as models for Disney. Brother bear forced to perform in a traveling show, Joaquin Phoenix– who starred in a film now streaming on Disney + – sent a letter to the owner of Bearadise Ranch demanding to get them out of the way and an offer to help them get them out of their forced show business and transfer them to an accredited reserve.
“I voiced the film’s protagonist, Kenai, who, as a lesson in empathy, magically transforms to be able to see the world through the eyes of a bear, and now I ask you to see through their eyes,” writes the Oscar winner. “These bears deserve more than life on the road, where everything that is natural and important to them is taken away from them, and if you put yourself in their place, I’m sure you will see that too.”
On the road, Bearadise Ranch operators keep the bears in transport cages where they can hardly turn around and cannot help but end up in their own waste. During performances, bears climb stairs, carry a basketball while walking on their hind legs, pull hoops over their heads, and perform other tricks – probably because they remember what would happen to them if they didn’t. Florida wildlife officials recently referenced the owner of a roadside zoo after she forced a bear to act as a “ring bearer” during a wedding ceremony and led the film crew to the bear enclosure.
PETA, whose motto is in part that “animals are not ours to experiment on” – opposes arrogance, a worldview focused on human excellence. For more information please visit PETA.org or subscribe to the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram…