Two years after he was rescued, Dillan the bear is thriving — and hopefully forgotten — his previous decade spent locked in a cage.
The Asiatic black bear was kept at the The Union County Sportsmen’s Club in Pennsylvania, where, according to PETA which spearheaded the rescue, Dillan lived a neglected life.
Dillan was fed a junk food diet, which left him morbidly obese. He also has a dental disease that went untreated. The bear spent his time alone in a cage, where he rocked hopelessly. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which investigated the facility, said the rocking “can often be an indicator of pain and or psychological distress.”
The club was eventually fined $1,700 by the USDA and banned from ever having bears or bobcats again.
Exactly two years ago, the club relented to pressure and gave up Dillan, who was moved to The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Kennesburg, Colorado.
“Dillan is no longer the lonesome bear who once lived with pain and loneliness,” PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet, said in a statement. “Following PETA’s efforts, he now has a massive naturalistic habitat to explore and friendships that he can nurture.”
