After reading about this tragic bear I felt I had to write something!!

FOR MITROFAN

My morning started much like any other, except this morning I put a coat on and pulled up the hood to shelter my newly washed locks from the pouring rain.

The beautiful Koi carp didn’t seem to mind. They just tootled round the pond waiting for breakfast.

As usual I was a day behind with my newspaper reading, but what I read on page 21 of the Telegraph had me nearly reduced to tears of despair. I wanted to climb a mountain and scream to the world, what the hell is going on?

I have much to do today, but cannot focus on anything until I get this little baby off my chest. And someone owes it to MITROFAN to let him know that some of us do care.

Who is Mitrofan? He’s the unsuspecting, trusting bear, shot by King Juan Carlos of Spain. So what? I hear the hunters say.

Mitrofan is described as a “good humoured and jolly bear” who was kept at a farm in the village of Novlenskoye, in Russia. This good humoured and jolly domestic bear was put in a cage where the party fed him on honey laced with Vodka. Thus the big, lumbering creature became an inebriated, “easy” target for their visiting dignitary.

The report from Sergey Starostin has caused some embarrassment to the Governor of Vologda, a region in northern Russia. Mr. Starostin, deputy head of the region’s hunting grounds conservation department, has loudly condemned the shooting of Mitrofan, which happened in late August. The word he uses is “abominable.”

There is no evidence to prove that King Juan knew the tragic animal was drunk, but one would wonder if it would be possible for an experienced hunter not to realise that something was amiss.

Governor Pozgalev was forced to order an investigation after failing to gag the feisty Sergey Starostin, who claims there have been similar incidents in the region. His words will ring in many ears. “I’ve been hunting for many years and I think that a situation when an animal is given no chance is immoral.”

I second that Mr. Starostin, and salute you for your courage at speaking out against this despicable act of total cruelty and indulgence. “Hey, I shot a bear today!”

Fears are now running high for Maya a female bear who shared a cage with Mitrofan at the Woodgrouse hunting estate. It is feared she is being prepared for the next “big wig” who visits the region “for a bit of sport?”

And what of the law? Shooting a wild bear with a licence is permitted; killing a tame bear might contravene a law. Oh, just in case you didn’t know, giving a bear in Russia vodka, is not illegal.

That makes me feel a whole lot better!!!

If only the tables could be turned and big, unsuspecting Mitrofan, who put his faith in the human race, was able to return and fill some of the hunting party with lashings of Vodka before giving chase.

Perhaps I’ll have a word with Stephen King!!

Rest in peace Mitrofan, hopefully you are in a better place. And to the members of that misguided hunting party, I wish you many sleepless nights!!