Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Protesters are demanding "justice" for Honey, a black bear who was euthanized at a New York state-licensed animal refuge after enduring what they called inhumane conditions.
About 30 members of the group Humane Long Island gathered on Long Island late Friday to protest conditions at the Holtsville, N.Y., Ecology Center prompted the protest late Friday to demand justice for Honey and sanctuary for her surviving friends, the New York Post reported.
"Three more animals have been killed at Holtsville just since our meeting last month, but not one more needs to die," the group posted on Facebook earlier this week.
"Humane Long Island has placement for every animal to go to their dream sanctuary home," they said while organizing the protest to encourage their relocation.
Honey was 27 and afflicted with recurring urinary tract infections and rotted and broken teeth that its caregivers allegedly ignored while she was kept at refuge, according to Humane Long Island.
The bear suffered a stroke on Nov. 22, which caused her to lose control of the lower portion of her body and was euthanized, refuge officials told the Post, while vehemently denying the allegations of abuse.
The refuge is run by the Town of Brookhaven, N.Y., and its highway department. Highways Superintendent Dan Losquadro told the Sahem, N.Y., Patch that honey was "well past the life expectancy for a bear," adding that the species does not live long whether in the wild or in captivity where they can live longer.
"She unfortunately, at a very old age, developed some very severe health problems," he said. "There's really nothing more I can say about Honey. We are certainly saddened that she's no longer with us in the facility, and that people won't continue to get to see her and learn."
The facility recently passed a surprise Department of Agriculture inspection, Losquadro said.
The Post reported wild animal exhibitor Larry Wallach donated Honey and her brother named Pooh to the facility after the New York Supreme Court ordered his animal exhibition business to close following reports of animals being abused.
Critics contend the highway department isn't qualified or equipped to care for the animals at the 3.5-acre animal refuge.
"The highway department has no place running a zoo," Humane Long Island President John Di Leonardo said in an online post. "These animals are taken from one bad situation to another."
He said the animals are not rescued and instead were often are put in a worse situation when sent to the animal refuge, which is home to more than 100 injured or sick animals that cannot survive in the wild.
Former refuge workers Kathleen Connely and Cayleigh Kunnmann told the Post the facility mostly is staffed by workers who are not qualified to provide animals with veterinary care, while some workers raised concerns about the conditions in which Honey and Pooh were kept, including being housed in a small concrete enclosure.
The protesters clamed facility staff allegedly ignored evidence of the bears' broken and rotted teeth and other health problems.