Republican John Cox says he wants to make “big beastly changes” to the way “Pretty Boy” Gavin Newsom is running California. But his use of a Kodiak bear as a living prop at campaign events has drawn fire from an animal rights group.
Screenshot from a John Cox for Governor ad posted to johncox.com.
SAN DIEGO (CN) Not content with just dubbing himself the “nicest, smartest beast you’ll ever meet in California,” gubernatorial candidate John Cox brought a Kodiak bear on the campaign trial a violation of local and federal animal welfare laws, an animal rights group claims in a lawsuit filed this week.
According to Cox, he’s been “roaring through California gaining BEASTLY momentum” as Newsom’s “top challenger.”
ICYMI: John Cox roared through California gaining BEASTLY momentum as the top challenger to @GavinNewsom. #CAGovpic.twitter.com/JjqGbKy4dw
As part of his tour, Cox rides a bear-themed bus, and routinely makes comments casting himself as “Beast” to Newsom’s “Beauty.”
One beast-themed antic, however, allegedly went too far. Cox brought a 1,000-pound Kodiak bear named
Tag on a campaign stop in Shelter Island on May 11, then to San Diego the following week. Animal rights group Animal Protection and Rescue League, Inc. (“APRL”) filed a lawsuit against Cox and unnamed others earlier this week, claiming that they illegally held events “with a captive, 1000-pound bear who has been drugged and abused for this purpose.”