Footage Reveals Cruel Dog Hunting Training on Bears in Russia

Footage Reveals Cruel Dog Hunting Training on Bears in Russia

London – Today, PETA Germany has released shocking video footage showing two dogs attacking a chained brown bear over the course of several minutes at a baiting station near Moscow. The footage, in which one of the dogs can be seen biting into the bear’s leg from behind, was obtained by Russian animal advocates, who also saw a badger and a boar held captive in cages at the facility.

Even though it is illegal in Russia to use wild-caught animals to train dogs for hunting, recent reports attest that authorities are not enforcing the law – which was passed in 2018 – and 18 similar baiting stations have been found in the Moscow region alone. In response, PETA Germany has sent an urgent letter to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, urging him to crack down on the illegal activity.

“It’s shameful that sensitive bears are still being attacked and injured by dogs when Russian officials have the power to stop it,” says PETA Germany Wild Animals Specialist Peter Höffken. “PETA is respectfully urging Mr Putin to ensure authorities nationwide end this barbaric and illegal practice once and for all.”

PETA notes that bears and other animals used for hunting training in Russia are often locked up in small cages, and those who don’t die quickly as a result of injuries or stress are killed once they are no longer useful to the hunters. Dogs are also at risk of injury during the training, which is supposed to prepare them for being attacked by animals in nature while hunting.

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org.uk or follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Contact:

Jennifer White +44 (0) 20 7837 6327; [email protected]

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