PETA is pissed off. Meanwhile…water is wet.
I’ll give People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) credit for not going full on triggered for once. Normally the radical animal rights group just loses their collective minds and outright condemns a person, but this time they just want someone fired. His name is Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The UFC lightweight champion is sometimes seen on social media with an admittedly adorable bear he calls his ‘oldest friend’.
Whether he’s wrestling, playing, or hugging it the bear is always chained up in the images and videos we have seen. While it has endeared him to many it does incense others seeing a wild animal like this.
The following is the video that set PETA on his trail.
While it appears that the video was deleted it triggered this statement from PETA UK Director Elisa Allen (via Business Insider).
PETA encourages the UFC to evaluate its relationship with Mr. Nurmagomedov until he shows a clear change in attitude and a commitment to showing animals the respect that they deserve.
Wrestling with a chained bear is loathsome behavior that shows an utter lack of respect for and consideration of who these animals are.
In the wild, bears roam across vast territories, foraging, swimming, digging in the dirt, climbing trees, searching for a mate, and expressing other essential, natural types of behavior.
Those used in Russia for ‘boxing,’ ‘dancing,’ or other archaic forms of entertainment are typically torn from their mothers as cubs, chained, caged, muzzled, beaten, and deprived of everything that’s meaningful to them.
PETA urges Mr. Nurmagomedov to stick to wrestling with willing human opponents.
Essentially they are saying to the UFC ‘fire your potential GOAT’. What do you think? Is the bear being mistreated.