Cholita the Abused Circus Bear Gets Her Happy Ending

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/causes/cholita-the-abused-circus-bear-gets-her-happy-ending.html

by Alicia Graef September 9, 2015 5:30 pm

Earlier this spring we heard the heartbreaking story about a severely abused circus bear named Cholita who desperately needed help. Now, thanks to the efforts of those who stepped in to rescue her, she’s gotten the happy ending she more than deserves.

Cholita was dubbed a real-life Paddington bear after the popular children’s books that tell tales of a bear from “darkest Peru,” but the account of her life certainly didn’t resemble anything we might find in a story book.

Images and video of Cholita taken at the time by Animal Defenders International (ADI), the organization behind the effort to bring her to safety, are crushing. Her fingers have been cut off to remove her claws and her teeth were smashed to leave her unable to defend herself. She should be covered in thick fur, but her body is bald as a result of alopecia, which her advocates believe was caused by stress, leaving her to resemble almost nothing of the spectacled, or Andean, bear that she is.




Cholita had previously been confiscated from a circus by the Peruvian authorities, but there was nowhere for her to go so she was placed in a zoo where she waited and waited until a home could be found for her. After hearing about her while on a separate mission to rescue other circus animals, ADI stepped in and took her to its rescue center in Lima, Peru where she received the love and healthcare she so desperately needed.

FULL story at link.

[shenmue]

1. Hooray!