It Is A Dog Not A Bear

Singer Zarith Sofia Yasin, who revealed herself to be the person who had kept a sun bear cub in her condominium in Desa Pandan, Kuala Lumpur, says she had no intention of keeping it as a pet. She claimed that she had found the bear in a weakened state near Bukit Am­­pang about two weeks ago. She said she would have sent it to the zoo once it recovered.

“My intention was to wait until he has recovered, then I will send him to the zoo. I only wanted to save the bear, I had no intention of exploiting him. I was worried about sending him to the zoo (while it was ill) because the animals there look skinny. I had taken good care of the bear, which she had named Bruno, by feeding it good food", she said.

“It was true that I went home for Hari Raya, but I didn’t let him starve, I left him some food. If Bruno could talk, it would surely say the food I gave was delicious. He ate chocolate,” said the 27-year-old whose nickname is Pia.

She said she also let the bear out of its cage to roam about.

“I did not leave him in the cage because I did not want him to sit there for too long – that would have been even more cruel. Perhaps some neighbors passed by and saw the bear (roaming) and they made noise. So the bear may have panicked and roared,” she said.

Zarith had initially mistaken the bear for a dog.