A campaign event by businessman and politician John Cox is receiving backlash from animal rights activists, after he used a 1,000-pound bear as a publicity stunt on Tuesday in Sacramento.
Cox, a Republican hoping to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom in California's recall election, called the governor "the beauty" and himself "the beast" as he stood in front of a half-ton Kodiak brown bear named Tag.
The event stirred instant outrage from animal rights activists up and down the state.
"I think it’s just a sad commentary on where his values are that he’s exploiting an innocent animal for his own gain," said Belmont resident Deniz Bolbol, who is with the organization Humanity True Education. "I think that people who may like him for his political views, or not, should let him know that it’s not acceptable."
PETA also said in a tweet, along with a video of the Sacramento event: "Wild animals must be left alone, not confined to a pen and wheeled out for events. They're not props."
A law enforcement chief with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told KCBS Radio that no laws appear to have been broken, and that the bear’s handler apparently had a permit akin to using an animal in a television commercial.
Tag, raised in captivity, appeared to be uninterested in the Sacramento campaign stop.
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