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---
description: A 41-year-old black bear in Ohio has been euthanized but not before savoring a cream-filled doughnut and tapioca pudding as his last meal.
title: Bear in Ohio Euthanized After Eating Doughnut and Pudding As Last Meal
image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0764844b19bf1210/69887642a988ca250f6b5cf7/euthanized-aging-bear-ohio.jpg?branch=production&amp;width=2400&amp;quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;crop=16:9
---

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# Bear in Ohio Euthanized After Eating Doughnut and Pudding As Last Meal


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Dec 20, 2015 7:25 PM CUT

![Archie, a 41-year-old black bear, has been euthanized in Ohio.](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0764844b19bf1210/69887642a988ca250f6b5cf7/euthanized-aging-bear-ohio.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=3:2)

Archie, a 41-year-old black bear, has been euthanized in Ohio.

Archie, a 41-year-old black bear, has been euthanized in Ohio.Andrew Davis/Medina Gazette—AP

![Melissa Chan](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5f683114c6819712/69894082096a946ae86a4153/m_chan.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

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[Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)


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## Melissa Chan


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Dec 20, 2015 7:25 PM CUT

One of the oldest known black bears living in captivity has been [euthanized — but not before savoring a cream-filled doughnut](http://medinagazette.northcoastnow.com/2015/12/19/archie-the-bear-is-euthanized/ "undefined") and tapioca pudding as his last meal.

Archie, a 41-year-old bear who had lived in Ohio with his owners Jeffrey and Debra Gillium for most of his life, was put down Friday amid a legal battle with the state and his caretakers, the Medina Gazette reported. The Gilliums had noticed his deteriorating health months ago.

“It was a hard thing to do,” Debbie Gillium told the newspaper. “We’ve both been upset the whole week. I hardly got any sleep last night.”

Archie devoured a big breakfast of dog food, a doughnut and tapioca pudding before he was euthanized by a veterinarian. “He usually doesn’t get stuff like that, but today was a special day and he loves his sweets,” Debra Gillium said. “He licked the tapioca off my fingers.”

The Gillums had been fighting the Ohio Department of Agriculture for a year over whether they could keep Archie despite failing to get a permit when the state issued new rules for keeping dangerous animals. They had been caring for the bear since 1981, according to the Gazette.

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