Some of the "saddest bears in Europe" have been relocated from cages to a peaceful sanctuary. (iStock)
Three bears in Albania have been rescued and relocated to the Bear Sanctuary in Prishtina.
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Brown bears, Gjina, Tomi and Pashuk all lived in tiny cages next to a restaurant in Albania. For years, the mammals were routinely force-fed beer and fed pieces of bread through the slats of dirty metal cages. The creatures were also made to pose for selfies with interested visitors.
However, after rescuers heard about the squalor the bears were living in, they stepped in and rescued the three, the Dodo reports.
The rescuers had to sedate the malnourished bears and carry them out in tarps and then place them in cages in order to transport them to the sanctuary.
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The sanctuary will allow the bears to run around with each other in a more natural habitat and eat healthy food.
Getting the bears out of the cages was a victory for the Four Paws rescuers, but the animal rights advocacy group is also working towards eliminating bear captivity throughout Europe especially Albania – which they refer to as “the saddest bears in Europe.”