6 min read
“Hate, hate, hate. Double hate. Loathe entirely!” No, Christmas doesn’t come from a store—especially not Three Bears General Store, an appalling roadside dump in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where multiple bears have died. The greedy, soulless operation confines two young black bears to a barren concrete pit, where they’re unable to forage, roam, or hibernate—just so it can put them on display for ticket sales.
That’s why Three Bears General Store is getting PETA’s 2024 “Grinch of the Year” Award—along with a lump of coal.
Stink, Stank, Stunk! Why We Wouldn’t Go Near Three Bears General Store With a Thirty-Nine-and-a-Half-Foot Pole
The Three Tears General Store is a bear’s worst nightmare. The operation has been cited numerous times for filthy enclosures, unsanitary feeding practices, failure to separate incompatible bears who were fighting with each other, and failure to provide minimum space, shelter from inclement weather, and clean drinking water.
The two bears remaining at the roadside zoo are put on display all day during business hours, with nowhere to escape noisy, gawking tourists. In their natural habitat, these young bears would have the opportunity to climb, run, explore diverse terrains, and dig in soft earth, brush, and leaves. Instead, they languish in a pit made entirely of concrete “rocks,” a log or two, and one small pool.
Curious and intelligent, free-roaming black bears can expertly maneuver tree stumps to gather out-of-reach food and sometimes use rocks as “exfoliators” to shed excess fur. They naturally forage for a diverse array of foods, such as berries, fruits, plants, and insects—but at Three Bears, visitors can pay to chuck broken dog biscuits into the pit, even though the food often lands in feces or puddles. The two bears at the facility have nothing to do but pace endlessly and beg tourists for food.
Will Three Bears Grow a Heart?
Since 2012, PETA has rescued 80 bears from private owners, roadside zoos, and the entertainment industry. In 2014, we rescued two Himalayan black bears from a cramped cage in the residential backyard of Three Bears’ previous owner, Bill DeLozier. They were transferred to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, where they finally got the care that they desperately needed. Help us do the same for the bears suffering at Three Bears by urging the facility to retire them to a lush, reputable sanctuary:
PETA’s ‘Ho, Ho, Horrible’ Awards Go to …
PETA sent “Ho, Ho, Horrible” Awards, complete with a certificate of shame and a lump of coal, to two more roadside zoos on our “naughty” list: Cherokee Bear Zoo and Spring River Zoo.
Cherokee Bear Zoo Is Anything But Nice
Cherokee Bear Zoo is a tourist trap in North Carolina, where black bears and grizzly bears suffer in tiny cinderblock pits. Experts have called the roadside zoo “disgusting” and have described confinement there as “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Unlike bears’ natural habitats, where they could roam vast distances, collect vegetation to make beds, and use their extraordinary sense of smell to locate food, the bears at Cherokee Bear Zoo spend their days pacing in a concrete prison. Without dirt or grass to walk on, the bears are predisposed to early-onset arthritis—a debilitating and painful joint disease. Some have even been seen struggling to walk on the hard pavement.
In nature, bear cubs stay close to their mothers for up to two to three years. Cherokee Bear Zoo exploits cubs—who were likely taken from their mothers just weeks after birth—in cruel public encounters, such as photo ops. Forcing bear cubs into these unnatural, highly stressful interactions with humans can cause them a lifetime of psychological distress. Many of them pace in their enclosures, cry out, exhibit displaced suckling behavior, toss their head, or suffer from other long-term developmental issues that hinder their ability to cope with their captive environment and increase their susceptibility to disease.
When cubs at Cherokee Bear Zoo grow too big to be used in public encounters, they’re dumped into the pits or shipped off to other seedy facilities. The roadside zoo then replaces them with new cubs to exploit as photo props—and the cycle continues.
It’s a Not-So-Merry Christmas for Bears at Spring River Zoo
Operated by the city of Roswell, New Mexico, Spring River Zoo has a long and sordid history of federal Animal Welfare Act violations, including inadequate animal care, filthy facilities, and animal escapes.
Multiple animals have died due to Spring River’s broken, shoddy, and unsafe enclosures. An elk named Patty “irreparably shattered” her leg and needed to be euthanized after becoming ensnared in a gap of fencing that staff didn’t know about. Additionally, the roadside zoo’s perimeter fencing failed to keep out a pack of wild dogs, resulting in the death of four animals.
For years, bears named Sierra and Ursula have been stuck in a dungeon-like pit. In nature, they could travel up to 40 miles a day, but at Spring River, they likely spend their days walking in tight circles and staring at the wall.
In 2018—following a hefty PETA campaign that included submitting complaints to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, posting videos, speaking at a city council meeting, and seeing our supporters get in on the call to action—the city of Roswell unveiled a “master plan” to improve conditions for the bears trapped at Spring River. But years later, the plan still hasn’t come to fruition.
It’s clear that the only thing Spring River can give is empty promises—so help us get Sierra, Ursula, and the other animals suffering there to accredited sanctuaries by speaking up now:
Denied the Bear Minimum: No Hibernation, Just Exploitation
Before winter settles in, free-roaming bears fill their bellies and prepare their dens for hibernation—a profound “resting” state that can last for several months. During hibernation, their metabolism slows to a crawl, allowing them to go without eating, drinking, or even using the bathroom for long stretches of time. Hibernation is an innate part of a bear’s natural lifecycle and crucial for their health—but facilities like Three Bears General Store and Cherokee Bear Zoo put bears on display all year round, denying them this important ritual.
’Tis the Season to Take Action—Help Bears Suffering at Roadside Zoos
Never visit a roadside zoo or any other facility that exploits animals. Take action to help bears today:
