This site is made by me Beloved Jeanne www.myspace.com/rosesandlavenderI support this sanctuary and have created this site in order to inform about the sanctuary and hopefully make people willing to help and donate. In the blogs there will be information about the sanctuary and it'll be updated when I find more news. I'll also bring information about other bear sanctuaries.An introduction taken from http://www.crookandnanny.com/bearminimum/html/christina.html
One in a MillionIn November 1997, Cristina Lapis, inspired by the shocking scenes of animal cruelty she witnessed on the television, set up an organisation called 'Milioane de Prieteni' - 'Millions of Friends'. The shelter which she and her volunteers began to build was based in a tumble-down building, which they slowly restored to create the shelter which exists today. The dedicated animal lovers put a lot of time and money into the venture, and with help from Brigitte Bardot's organisation and from an organisation in Germany, they made the shelter habitable. The 'Millions of Friends' dog shelter is currently home to 800 dogs, with a further intake of around 30 every month.Domestic animals are not the only ones to have attracted the attention of Cristina Lapis. She was approached by WSPA, who were making proposals to set up a bear sanctuary in Brasov. They knew already of Cristina's work with dogs, and through her they drew up plans for the sanctuary. Through the help of concerned tourists, Cristina began to investigate potential cases of bear cruelty, and at one point she was monitoring five bears.Only two remain.One bear was shot by its owners, who tired of caring for it. Another died in its cage, presumably of poor care. Another bear, who was clearly very close to Cristina's heart, was named Maya. The bear became so used to Cristina's care that at the sound of the car engine approaching she would pace around her cage in anticipation. Cristina fed her from a bottle, and could actually enter the cage with her.
Maya's story is not a happy one. Her captivity affected her mental state so much that she ate her own front legs, dying of the self-mutilation.The bears were kept as a tourist attraction by a restaurant in the ski resort of Poiana Brasnov. They faced an uncertain future when the restaurant was taken over by new owners who wanted to build a hotel and get rid of the animals. The area where their cages were kept, was already being demolished around the terrified bears.Luckily, members of Milioane de Prieteni, who had been providing food for the bears, were able to intervene and offered to re-home the bears.It is believed that two of the bears, a 10 year old male, Christy, and a young female, Lydia, had been caged together at the restaurant most of their lives. Odi, the first to reach the sanctuary, had been kept in a tiny wire floored cage for 12 years.In their temporary holding facility, the bears can feel the forest floor beneath their feet for the first time, and are experiencing peace and quiet after the noisy environment of the resort. The bear sanctuary will allow the bears to roam freely and safely in an enclosure of nearly 24 acres.WSPA and Milioane de Prieteni decided to create the sanctuary after investigations highlighted the misery of Romania's captive bears, estimated at around 50 in total.Although the sanctuary did not officially open until June 2007, 20 of Romania’s captive bears have already been rescued and moved to their new home.
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