THE NATURAL PERSPECTIVE -- Vic Leipzig and Lou Murray

It was hardly the fight of the century. But when Huntington Beach

weightlifter and bodyguard Dominic Menaldi stepped into the ring at

Hollywood Park on Oct. 17 to wrestle a bashful bear, it was a disgrace,

an embarrassment, and possibly a crime.

According to published reports, the 291-pound Menaldi claimed that he

wanted to wrestle Dakota, an 801-pound grizzly bear, to impress his

girlfriend. With such a great weight difference, it didn’t seem like a

fair match.

It wasn’t. The cards were stacked against Dakota.

Menaldi, who bills himself as the “World’s Greatest Bodyguard,” rented

the huge grizzly from Randy Miller, owner of Predators in Action, which

is located, ironically, in Big Bear.

Miller trains animals for movies and television, so Dakota was used to

playing the role of a wild bear in front of cameras. But normally

Dakota’s acting jobs are conducted under quieter, more private

circumstances. This time, the poor bear was asked to perform before a

noisy crowd of 900 ticket holders.

You don’t suppose that profit was more on Menaldi’s mind than impressing

a girlfriend, do you? Would it help you make up your mind if you knew

that Menaldi sells a wrestling video titled ‘Bodyguards vs. Convicts’?

Back to the bear.

Accounts of the event say the terrified Dakota refused to enter the ring.

Was he frightened of Menaldi?

Not likely. They had wrestled before in the relative solitude of the

woods at Big Bear. It was the crowd that petrified the bear.

Miller tried to coax the tame grizzly into the ring with 30 pounds of raw

chicken. He played the theme music from the commercial for the Las Vegas

hotel Bellagio. An hour passed and the crowd grew angrier. Finally,

Dakota was dragged into the ring in his cage. The bear emerged and the

‘fight’ was on. The bear knocked Menaldi to the mat dozens of times, then

rolled on his back. Menaldi claimed victory. The unfortunate Dakota then

nosed his cage, trying to get back in to escape the noise and nonsense.

Miller declared the match over and the crowd demanded their money back.

Now for the fallout. Santa Ana attorney Robert Newman received calls from

five animal rights groups calling for action. Orange County People for

the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked the Los Angeles County district

attorney’s office and the Inglewood city attorney to file charges against

Miller, Menaldi, and the casino.

Are there grounds for legal action? State law bars human-animal fights

only when the animal is tormented. It is unlikely that Dakota’s treatment

will fall under that category, even though Miller rode Dakota like a

horse while the bear wrestled Menaldi. It was a dumb stunt, but it

doesn’t seem like a prosecutable crime. Miller probably loves his bear.

He was shocked at the public outcry over the fight and has retired

Dakota, even though the bear is young.

We’re not animal rights activists. We don’t have a problem with training

animals to act in movies and television as long as they are not taken

from the wild and are treated well, not harmed, and not made to do things

that misinform the public. But to stage a stupid stunt like this with an

unwilling animal seems irresponsible and wrong.

It’s enough to make us demand our constitutional right to arm bears.

We wonder what you think. Should Menaldi or Miller be fined, or are you

OK with public bear wrestling for profit?

* Vic Leipzig and Lou Murray are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They can be reached at [email protected].