ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — An Asheville bear who was facing euthanasia is getting a second chance.
As News 13 previously reported, on Aug. 18, a north Asheville resident was injured by an adult bear after it entered the home through an unlocked door while its three cubs were seen playing on the front porch.
Around the time of the incident, wildlife officials told News 13 that officials intended to capture the adult bear and euthanize it, saying it “poses a threat to human safety.”
The news of the bear’s possible death garnered a lot of reaction.
Wildlife advocate Hannah Furgiuele, founder of the Dolly the Bear Campaign, began pushing for officials to spare the bear.
READ MORE: BEAR THAT INJURED NORTH ASHEVILLE RESIDENT WON’T BE EUTHANIZED, NC WILDLIFE SAYS
According to the “Pardon Dolly” website, the mother bear was given the moniker “Dolly” after the late Dolly Parton, also an Appalachian native and during a 2022 interview with National Geographic, she compared mistreating the environment to “being ugly to your mama.”
However, a month later, on Sept. 18, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission announced that if NCWRC can safely capture the bear alive, the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro has agreed to temporarily care for the bear until an appropriate permanent home is found.
Furgiuele said she was overwhelmed when she learned Dolly the bear would be given another chance.
2026 – Bears seen near north Asheville area where a bear injured a resident in August 2026. (Photo courtesy: Hannah Furgiuele)
“I just started crying. Like, I think I got more dehydrated in that spin class from crying tears of relief and hope than I did sweating,” Furgiuele said.
North Carolina wildlife officials say if Dolly the bear is captured, she will be darted and moved to a zoo as a temporary holding facility. The plan is to give advocates time to find the bear a permanent wildlife sanctuary.
Furgiuele said the campaign gained significant support, with a “Pardon Dolly” petition collecting more than 21,000 signatures.
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“I wasn’t going to let her tragedy go by unnoticed and not become some sort of catalyst for change. That’s why I put everything into it these last few weeks,” Furgiuele said.
Furgiuele said she hopes the attention surrounding Dolly the bear will lead to a larger conversation about how communities can better coexist with bears.
“Honestly, I didn’t think that these efforts would have the impact they had, and not just for Dolly, but I’m hoping for the whole conversation bear-wise strategies Asheville can do and adopt,” Furgiuele said.
She says the goal is to encourage better choices and infrastructure to help people and wildlife live alongside one another.
“It called in a lot of movement to make better choices and better infrastructure to help people co-exist,” Furgiuele said.
For now, Dolly the bear’s future depends on finding a permanent place to live.