Animals Asia 10th anniversary coincides with Opening Ceremony of Beijing Olympics
On 08/08/08, Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) celebrated its 10th anniversary, neatly coinciding with the launch of the ‘Green’ Olympics in Beijing.
Tragically, the international sporting event did not bring about the long hoped-for Chinese government declaration ending the barbaric practice of bear farming in that country. So, while the world celebrated two weeks of sporting excellence, over 7,000 endangered Asiatic black bears still languished in the torturous conditions of the farms, unable to flex their limbs and still being milked for their bile as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.
The government announced a temporary ban on the sale of dog meat in restaurants serving the Olympic visitors, but millions of dogs and cats were still being cruelly slaughtered, skinned and boiled alive in animal markets across China.
- Dogs awaiting slaughter in the live animal markets
- Chengdu Truth – one of the bears rescued in March but who sadly had to be euthanized immediately due to her terrible injuries and diseased liver
Undaunted, Animals Asia continues its fight to bring bear farming and dog and cat eating to an end. This 10th anniversary year has proved to be the busiest yet for the Animals Asia team and a real emotional roller coaster. It started on 31 March with the rescue of 28 more bears with the help of the Sichuan Forestry Department. The initial euphoria on receiving the first release of bears for 18 months soon turned to despair and disgust at the condition of the new arrivals. One was found to be already dead in his cage and, in the intervening few months, 14 more have had to be euthanised as a result of their appalling injuries or of massive liver tumours caused by the bile extraction methods.
- Irwin Junior – a 6 kg cub rescued to the Vietnam sanctuary in June, confiscated from a truck en route to a bear farm in China
Then in May came the devastating Chinese earthquake, with the epicentre just 80 miles from the Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu. Having established that all bears and staff were safe, the AAF team’s thoughts immediately turned to the thousands of victims whose lives, families and homes had been left in ruins. With the permission of the Chinese Red Cross, Animals Asia sent out teams offering emergency relief and medical supplies to the devastated mountain area of Anxian. When it became apparent that the Red Cross had everything under control, Animals Asia was then allowed to work in the rubble of what was left of the town of Dujiangyiang, offering heartbroken residents the opportunity to save much-loved family pets from the government culling policy by providing them with temporary sanctuary until their owners can rebuild their shattered homes and lives. To date, Animals Asia has rescued over 120 dogs and many cats, bringing them to Chengdu – some to an animal shelter, and others to its own rescue centre for urgent medical attention.
In June, Animals Asia founder and CEO Jill Robinson MBE, accompanied by the charity’s China Relations Director, Christie Yang, travelled to the UK for the annual ‘roadshow’, presenting to supporters both old and new across the country, from Plymouth to Edinburgh, taking in 12 venues in just 14 days. The roadshow proved a huge success raising much needed funds to care for the newly rescued bears, for the new earthquake victims and for the reconstruction of five of the buildings at the Chengdu sanctuary which have been declared unsafe and in need of rebuilding. We were, as always, delighted to welcome Born Free Founder Virginia McKenna to our London flagship event on 30th June where she gave a very moving speech, a fitting finale to a hectic fortnight.
Jill then returned to Vietnam to continue negotiations for the release of the 80 bears promised by that government and destined for a life free from pain and fear in the safety of Animals Asia’s new bear sanctuary next to the Tam Dao National Park outside Hanoi. It is hoped that a further 50 bears will be safe at the sanctuary before the end of October.
Animals Asia’s Dr Dog and Professor Paws programmes, aimed at changing local people’s views towards companion animals, have also been incredibly active. There are now 350 officially registered therapy dogs visiting people in need in hospitals, hospices, disabled centres, elderly homes and orphanages in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mainland China and India. Professor Paws dogs work in 23 schools in Hong Kong. It has been quite an anniversary year so far!
Despite the many setbacks en route, Animals Asia has come a long way over the past decade, growing from a handful of people working out of a house in rural Hong Kong to a team of more than 200 animal welfare professionals working in Asia, the UK, Germany, the US and Australia.
The foundation has built two world-class bear sanctuaries (in China and Vietnam), hundreds of moon bears have been rescued from lives of torture on bile farms and our animal-therapy programmes are now operating in 10 cities throughout Asia.
Jill says: “The most exciting development we have seen in Asia over the past few years has been the increasing number of people everywhere embracing animal welfare issues and acting on their conviction. In China alone, we have a network of more than 40 home-grown groups that have joined our Animals Asia Friendship Alliance and we have over 20 Moon Bear Rescue support groups at universities throughout China. This past decade has shown what can be achieved by determined citizens who want to create change.
“08/08/08 was certainly a day for celebration for us and our bears, but we are now looking ahead to the next decade. At no point will we be relaxing our goal – and, in the coming 10 years, we hope to bring you the news that bear farming has ended.”
None of this would have been possible without the continued, fantastic support of friends such as Born Free Foundation, all those who have adopted our gorgeous bear, Ginny, and especially the efforts of much-loved Patron, Virginia McKenna.
You can make a donation Animals Asia Bear Rescue here
or visit the Animals Asia website
Report Animal Suffering | Contact Us | eNews | WildcreW | CEO's Blog | Sitemap | About Site | Copyright
