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Ukraine to save bears from forced vodka drinking
The country's environment minister, Mykola Zlochevsky, vowed to free all bears kept in restaurants for entertainment purposes.
Wed, Aug 03 2011 at 6:17 AM
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BEARS: Captured and tamed bears were often used for entertainment in the Russian Empire, turning the animal into a national symbol. The practice appears to have also survived Ukraine's emergence from Soviet rule, but Zlochevsky said it was inhumane and un
KIEV - Ukraine's Environment Minister Mykola Zlochevsky vowed on Wednesday to free all bears kept in restaurants for entertainment purposes and often forced to drink alcohol, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.
Captured and tamed bears were often used for entertainment in the Russian Empire, which included Ukraine, turning the animal into a national symbol.
The practice appears to have also survived Ukraine's emergence from Soviet rule, but Zlochevsky said it was inhumane and unacceptable today.
"On television, they keep showing bears suffering in restaurants and roadside hotels," Interfax quoted him as saying. "How long can we tolerate animal torture in restaurants where drunken guests make bears drink vodka for laughs?"
Zlochevsky said his ministry was building a large enclosure in a wildlife sanctuary where it would place about 80 bears it planned to liberate.
(Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, editing by Paul Casciato)
Copyright 2011 Reuters Life! Online Report
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Forcing bears to drink vodka is absolutely deplorable. Everyone knows that they prefer beer. There is a spot in Idaho where rail cars of grain can spill a little and the sows and cubs feed there. The big males don't show up till after the fall rains and the puddles have natural "beer" in them. Also old-time moonshiners had a real problem with wild pigs and bears raiding their "mash" which is a form of beer.