People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is recognizing a police force at Lake Tahoe for its compassionate treatment of a bear cub that was trapped in a garbage bin.
The national animal rights group presented Truckee, California police this week with the Compassionate Police Department Award after officers in the town just north of Lake Tahoe freed the cub on Nov. 16.
The young animal jumped out and ran up a hillside to its mother, who was waiting nearby.
Controversy has raged for decades over management of wild bears around Tahoe, where some determined to be a threat to public safety are euthanized.
PETA Vice President Colleen O'Brien says the "compassionate officers made sure that this little cub escaped a frightening and life-threatening predicament."
PETA sent a framed certificate and vegan cookies to the police department.
