35°Bear killed at request of victim's family
Aug 22
2010
A bear that mauled to death a caretaker was euthanized Saturday at the request of the family of the victim, whose father said he had told his son to leave the job.
The bear attacked Brent Kandra, 24, when he opened its cage Thursday for a routine feeding at the home of a man who kept a menagerie of wolves, tigers and bears on the property southwest of Cleveland.
The owner, Sam Mazzola, who has drawn criticism from animal rights activists for letting people wrestle with one of his bears, had said Kandra's family would decide the bear's fate.
Kandra's father, John, said he and his ex-wife, Deirdre Herbert, needed the bear to die. He also said his son felt shortchanged by Mazzola when payday rolled around.
''It just seemed like Sam kind of took advantage of my son,'' Kandra's father said. ''I told him a couple times, 'I really wish you wouldn't work for him.'''
Mazzola's lawyer didn't return a call seeking comment Saturday.
After the bear was put to death by a veterinarian, John Kandra recalled his son, a little blond boy who fished his way through childhood in the rivers of northeastern Ohio, baiting bullfrogs with a blade of grass and catching carp big enough to shame the tallest teller of fish tales.
''I can't think of when he wasn't involved with animals,'' Kandra said.
His son began fishing at age 4, reeling in fish after fish and begging to cast his rod just one more time. He tried to bring home his biggest catches, where he always had animals -- a pet snake, a turtle or a dog.
After Kandra died, his father paged through mementos of his son's childhood, the fridge-worthy school assignments and other keepsakes a parent saves. He fixated on stories his son scribbled in elementary school: Brent catching a whale with a hook. Brent living among the bears in the woods.
''I figured by the time they were in their 30s and 40s they could go through it and see what they want to keep,'' Kandra's father said of his children. ''He's not going to be able to that.''
Brent Kandra's penchant for critters led him to Mazzola's world of exotic animals, where neighbors say roars and howls resound. Kandra spent the end of his teenage years and his 20s tending to dogs and feeding bears.
Despite the problems he said he had with getting paid, Kandra thought it was better than selling cell phones at the mall, a job he started less than two months ago.
Mazzola owned four tigers, a lion, eight bears and 12 wolves, he said at a bankruptcy filing in May.
The USDA had revoked Mazzola's license to exhibit animals after animal rights activists campaigned for him to stop letting people wrestle with another one of his bears.
He had permits for nine bears for 2010, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The state requires permits for bears but doesn't regulate the ownership of nonnative animals like lions and tigers.
Kandra's death shows that Ohio needs immediate action to prohibit private ownership of wild animals, the Humane Society said.
''Ohio has been one of the outliers, putting both public safety and the welfare of the animals at risk,'' president Wayne Pacelle said in a statement.
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11:20 AM
nosey rosey says
OMG, leave it to a conservative to make this article a political statement. But for those or you who say their are no laws against this - the recent agreement between the HSUS and the state of Ohio makes it illegal to purchase or breed exotic animals in the state. Current animals are grandfathered in but new litters or purchases will not be allowed. It's just sad that this bear had to pay for a human mistake.
10:18 AM
SMH-FML says
About 6 or 7 years ago my husband and I went to Elyria's Midway Mall and one of the stores had exotic animals in it. Bears, white tigers, bengal tigers etc. They offered an admission to walk through and see the animals and for an additional fee you could get your picture up close with one of the animals. I remember the animals had large chains on them also. It was a very strange scene for a store in the middle of the mall to be converted for such large exotic wild animals. My husband and I were very curious so we paid the fee to look at the animals. It was not like the zoo where they had a reproduction of their natural habitat and could have some sense or normalcy, They were cubicle like spaces with bars and the animals had to just sit there with their large chains. The one thing and stays in my mind was the bear. I remember how large it was and i was just staring at it because i was 5 feet from it on the other side of the bars. The bear just sat there and was staring blankly ahead. I remember looking at its eyes, they were red and glossed over. There was just something about it, in my opinion the animal had been heavily sedated. They had a large bengal tiger also and come to think of it all of the animals seemed to be sedated, but none of the animals stuck out to me besides the bear. I know the animals were from a "ranch" outside of the cleveland area. I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS THE SAME PLACE MENTIONED IN THE STORY .. because i do not know. I just know seeing those animals, confined to such a small space for mall hours (which is a long time) broke my heart. I will never forget how the eyes of that bear looked. As we talked about it i started thinking, when do these animals eat, use the bathroom... etc. It's not like they can just take them for a walk around the block! I had never thought about it before seeing this in the mall, but my opinion is beauitful animals such as these should be kept either in their natural enviornment or in the zoo (a REAL zoo) where they are able to be monitered and ensure they are being properly taken care of. Thoughts and prayers to the young man's family.
06:15 AM
first of duh month says
The French Canadians want to put down the family of bears some woman had guarding her marijuana field. One bear even was so high he hopped up on the mounties car & fell asleep. Another case of NOT THE ANIMAL'S FAULT!!!
02:04 AM
eriemom says
Taxpayer: What is your point? That bears can kill you and all of them should therefore die? That liberals like bears? That polar bears should die because your political agenda will not allow you to understand that climate IS changing? Do you understand the phrase, "canary in the coal mine?" Do you understand that the polar bear is a canary?
09:08 PM
44846GWP says
Taxpayer, what do liberals have to do with this incident? I am a liberal, did you see my comment I made before? Wild animals belong in the wild, if they have to be rescued then a good zoo is fine too. This has nothing to do with being "liberal", it has more to do with being ignorant. Don't try to bring politics into this, whats next, it Obama's fault?
09:05 PM
katelih says
If someone wants to "house" and take care of wild animals, then why do they need to hire someone to feed and take care of them. The crazy person should let his/her family know ,in case of a future attack on him/her, the bear is to be placed in a more suitable environment. Hate to beat a dead horse, but like the one lady who had the chimp and couldnt contain it....... she called her BF to help her get control of the animal ! What a tragic, senseless situation. If you cant care for and contain your own pet or BEAST, then you should get rid of it ,at any and all cost ! If someone puts themselves in danger of a wild animal or even a domesticated pet is far better than adding people to that danger.
08:38 PM
Taxpayer says
So the bear receives the DEATH PENALTY for being a wild bear?? Can someone tell me WHO is really at fault here?? You get a wild bear and try to keep it in captivity. But, the liberal values are, "Oh, it is so cute, it is gentle, we must feed the bears." So the liberal news interviews the owner and he tells the world they have all been "bitten" but never anything like this. Hmm, I guess it is perfectly normal for a wild bear to bite someone. "Oh, but it is so cute like in the cartoons." Here is a tip; your precious polar bears, grizzly bears, brown and black bears will KILL YOU in a second. Even if you have a gun and they have the jump on you, you will be lucky to survive after a violent fight and you lose portions of your precious self. Make sure you liberals continue to listen to your liberal news and feel sorry for them. They could care less for you. "Oh, we must save the polar bears from global warming." Why don't a few of YOU who are so concerned go to the Artic and feed these precious and cute animals.
07:48 PM
SarahTonin says
Hi Susi,
Your comment has depth and I want to thank you for taking the time. It sounds as if you have some very special experience with animals like this. Let's hope that this catches someones attention who can make it more difficult for Ohio residents to acquire and keep these animals. It's not fair.
Sarah
07:36 PM
Susi1110 says
You tend to animals over a period of time and you lose the "fear factor" for what a large animal can do to you. My heart goes out to the family at this time of grief. That said...What a tragic thing to do to the bear in question. I question too how you can let a distraught parent, filled with pain and anger over the death of his child, make a rational decision on the fate of the animal that killed him. Sam Mazzola and others like him that take animals out of their natural environment for personal gain should be held to much stricter guidelines. In every loss there is a lesson. Here's hoping some good will come out of this.
03:04 PM
webofspit says
What if the family asked to euthanize Mazzola........?
11:48 AM
44846GWP says
Oh great, lets kill the bear for being a bear!! The bear should have been in the wild or a GOOD zoo like the Cleveland zoo.
11:03 AM
MINE says
AGAIN......
Poor bear was euthanized. People need to leave them alone where they belong! Animals ALWAYS have to suffer in one way or another because of stupid "humans"!
10:07 AM
SarahTonin says
My deepest sympathy to the Kandra family but what did the bear do wrong?
07:38 AM
dorothy gale says
Captive wild animal = dead young man. Too sad for words. Now the bear has been euthanized and it's probably better off dead than being consigned to life in a cage in someone's yard. Brett Kandra, however, DID have a life, doing what he loved to do, and now he's gone. My deepest sympathy to his family. My first reaction is to want to hold the "owner" of these animals responsible; he's certainly guilty of lacking common sense. But if there are no laws to prohibit private ownership of wild animals, who's REALLY to blame?