You could expect to get a bear claw at the local coffee shop in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, but Lisa Connors didn’t expect to see a bear in a live trap at the back of a truck. Connors was in the drive-thru Monday, anticipating her morning coffee. She didn’t think anything of it when she saw a Wildlife truck with what she thought was an empty cage on the back.
“And the cage starts moving, and then when I looked closer, we realized there was a bear in the back just rolling around and rolling around. And buddy got out to get his coffee and everything,” she said. “So I was really shocked,”
All she could think was “poor bear.”
“Usually bears are out in the wild and it’s quiet. And then the wildlife, these professionals, are supposed to take it and release it. Instead, they take it to the busiest spot in town”, she said. “When I looked the ear was tagged and the poor thing was just rolling around, rolling around in this little small barrel basically.”
Connors thinks it’s animal cruelty to have the “fair-sized” bear trapped in a stressful environment, seeing cars and busy traffic from a small cage. She said the officers should have captured the animal and released it.
“And then maybe come back and get their coffee,” she said.
Connors said she assumed other people saw the bear because there was a long lineup, and “the cage was moving, it wasn’t just still.” A spokesperson from the province’s Natural Resources department said in an email it was aware of the situation.
“All matters of this nature are taken very seriously and we are addressing it internally. The animal was released without harm at a safe location and is in good condition,” the statement said.
This article was originally presented on the CBC web site. Click the link below to see the video.