If you had stumbled onto this land in Terebovlya, Ukraine recently, you might have kept on driving. After all, there’s nothing that would grab your attention. There are just a couple of buildings, lots of grass, and trees, but not much else. But until recently, there was a secret lurking in one of the corners of this compound. There was a cage, and inside that cage was a brown bear named Kvitka, who had to endure one of the worst living conditions ever for several years. But there was some hope for the creature who had spent most of her life in captivity.Before she got locked up in this crummy and hideous cage, she used to live in a station that looked just like this one in Eneyko. But while she was here, the only time she was allowed outside of her cage was for an inhumane practice known as bear baiting.
The baiting station is located in Terebovlya, Ukraine, which Four Paws International managed to infiltrate in order to record footage of what was really going on here. What they found were bears that were chained to a post while hunting dogs that circled them, but many of the bears were malnourished.
Like her fellow brethren, Kvitka’s nails had been removed so that she wouldn’t have been able to harm the dogs during the training exercise, but her teeth showed signs of being worn down, which the members of Four Paws International deduced was caused by Kvitka gnawing on her cage.
The rescuers then took Kvitka to Bear Sanctuary Domazhyr, a rescue center which is run by Four Paws. In fact, seven other bears, who had suffered conditions similar to Kvitka were now living peacefully in the sanctuary.
Kvitka had a fractured tooth, which was festering, according to Marc Gölkel, a vet from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin. It became important to operate on her immediately before releasing her into her new life.
The rescuers also believed that a few days would be all she would need to rest and recover before she was up and ready to start exploring her brand-new home inside the sanctuary, where she would never have to suffer from malnutrition or abuse.
She took a few cautious steps forward and there was a part of her that seemed a bit reluctant. After all, she was surrounded by trees, wildflowers and fresh grass, which was a far cry from the horrible cage she was locked in before.
Fortunately, Four Paws is working closely with the government in the hopes that they can prevent animals like Kvitka from going through what she went through. They also hope that they can continue rescuing other animals so that they can lead normal lives as well.
Kvitka is getting along very well with her other neighbors, Tyson, Manya, and Kristina, which makes the rescue team very happy. They just hope that Kvitka will never have to suffer the way she did at that station.
After years of neglect, she finally gets to lead a life of happiness and peace. Thanks to Four Paws, they were able to negotiate for Kvitka’s freedom and now the bear has reclaimed some elements of what a normal life should be. Finally, things are looking up for this furry creature who deserves to live a healthy, joyful life, much like every single animal in the world.
