Dear supporters,
I am writing to you today to inform you that our protest to help the bears in private captivity in Slovenia has been successful! You were one of over 100,000 people worldwide who sent a message to the Slovenian authorities, urging them to address the suffering of privately owned bears and put an end to it once and for all. Today, we are proud to announce that the authorities have finally taken responsibility, thanks in part to your voice. We sincerely thank you!
You may remember that tragically, two of the five bears could not be rescued by FOUR PAWS in time. As despite our efforts, Mascha and Mitko passed away under dire conditions before FOUR PAWS could provide much needed support. However, help did not come too late for bear Felix, who is already 34 years old and was rescued by FOUR PAWS in May this year. Felix is now enjoying his twilight years on the soft forest floor in the BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach and has the new-found freedom to cool off in his senior-friendly pool when the weather is warm.
But we also have great news to share about bear Mici! Mici's owner has agreed to voluntarily hand her over to us. After tough negotiations, the authorities were able to convince Mici’s owner that she also deserves a species-appropriate life. The handover agreement has already been signed and rescue preparations are in full swing. Mici will soon find a new home at BEAR SANCTUARY Müritz!
There is also hope for the last bear living in private captivity, bear Tim! Also thanks to our protest on behalf of bears living in private captivity, Slovenia's animal welfare law has finally been amended and the proposed, ‘positive list’, which has been under discussion in Slovenia for a long time, has now finally been enshrined in animal welfare law! This means that in the future, dangerous wild animals such as bears or big cats will no longer be allowed to be kept by private individuals. Once the positive list has been published, private owners of dangerous wild animals will be given a transition period of 6 months to voluntarily surrender their animals. As the private keeping of Tim will become illegal in the foreseeable future, the local authorities will finally have a basis for his confiscation. Nevertheless, we hope that Tim's owner will accept our offer and voluntarily hand Tim over to us! A brand new and species-appropriate enclosure awaits him at BEAR SANCTUARY Arbesbach.
Our protest was successful, and as of today, we are closing our protest tool as we have achieved everything we wanted to achieve with this! An end to private bear keeping in Slovenia is in sight, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support!
Thank you very much!
Magdalena Scherk-Trettin
Rescue Planning and Deployment