A morbidly obese Asiatic black bear that has been the center of attention for the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals for the past five months is being moved to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, the group announced Monday.
After months of PETA ad campaigns and multiple media releases about Dillan, the bear being held in a cage at the Union County Sportsmen's Club, in Millmont, will now find a new home in Colorado.
The bear was removed from the club Monday morning, according to media reports.
Union County Sportsmen's Club representatives did not respond to a call seeking comment.
The club agreed to move the bear to the Colorado sanctuary, a PETA-approved and accredited wild animal sanctuary, according to PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet.
The move comes just days after actor Alec Baldwin sent a public letter on PETA's behalf to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.
"This move comes after years of neglect, but this long-suffering bear now has a chance to eat healthy food, exercise his limbs on soft natural terrain, receive much-needed medical care, and hibernate, forage, and swim as bears need to do," Peet said. "The club should be ashamed. We respectfully asked its board to do the right thing, and they reacted like brats."
PETA officials launched a campaign against the club by posting a billboard urging drivers not to stop at the Union County Sportsmen's Club, running television and radio ads on local stations and sending the roadside zoo bags of coal for Christmas.