As we all know, when people and dogs share their lives this, in itself, can bring both pleasure and pain - for both species. For example, dog ownership across the world is booming today, but as more people bring more dogs into their homes and benefit from this relationship, so the conflict between dog owners and non-dog owners becomes more intense. More dogs are abandoned, the increased risk of disease becomes an issue, and so it goes on.
This month, in an effort to discuss and address some of these issues, we saw 121 delegates from 36 cities across China - including 75 government officials and 31 delegates from 25 animal welfare groups - attending the 4th symposium on "Dog Ownership Management".
In an extraordinary meeting of minds, we heard the most fantastic presentations that showed how much intelligence there is today in advocating harmony between humans and companion animals, and working on programmes that will ultimately benefit those who love dogs - and those who don't - agreeing on common ground towards a more harmonious society.
Our special thanks to co-Sponsors Dalian PSB Dog Management Department, to Host Dalian Pets 100 (Dalian Chong Ai Tian Xia Group), and of course to HSI in the USA as the co-supporting organisation.
Thanks most of all to our own team of Animals Asia for working their socks off to make sure that the conference was so successful - including Suki (who was a fabulous MC) and Cherry (who joined Suki as the main coordinator), and to Irene, Carrot, Gina, Jessica, Jenny, Rachel and Yan.
Some incredibly exciting presentations came out of this conference.
We heard Mr Deng Tianyi of the Dalian Public Security discuss the dog management programmes that have made the city more harmonious over recent years. These include building a strong vaccination programme, enforcing regulations concerning dog ownership and cooperating with the media on social campaigns in order to spread advice to the community.
Dalian PSB also visit dog owners; distributing brochures and education materials, they have established pounds with a dog ID system, set up an electronic licence system, and collaborate with local animal protection groups so that abandoned dogs have somewhere to go. Through this, over 7,000 dogs have been helped already. They also organise thousands of dog owners to help the government spread a responsible dog ownership message which, in turn, spreads good will to the public regarding living harmoniously with dogs and cats. Last, but not least, they have seen the establishment of a "seeing eye" dog training centre for the blind, where 29 seeing eye dogs serve the community. One of these dogs, named “Lucky” even led the torch-bearer into the stadium at the Beijing Olympic Games.
We also heard from Andrew Rowan of the Humane Society International (HSI) in the USA, detailing the experiences of dog management in the US and how similar experiences can help the work in China. Andrew emphasised how much progress has been made in China in the past 5-10 years and how more and more people across the world are keen to work with the groups and authorities too.
Mike Oswald, Director, Multnomah County Animal Services Division in Portland, Oregon, in the US also spoke of the impressive models in their management process which strives to protect community safety, community health and animal welfare, and promotes responsible pet ownership.
Yu Hongmei of the amazing Pets 100 in Dalian gave a fabulous presentation showing that their group is a platform for rescues in the community. They carry out neutering of the street dogs and cats, offering training for vets who perform the surgeries on cats and dogs, and helping to increase awareness of the welfare of companion animals in the community.
We also heard from Mr Liu from the Weixian Government who recently launched a rabies programme with the Capital Animal Welfare Association, China Demographic Parties, and The Chinese Medicine Association.
And then there was the wonderful news that Wei County in Hebei province is also the first county to ban the eating of dog meat - and also the selling of dogs and dog meat. This is an unprecedented outcome and thanks to all the dedicated officials of Wei County who moved this forward. Animals Asia had attended a special ceremony there in June with the title "Focus on animal protection, prevent rabies the scientific way" - and the dog meat ban was officially announced on the 2nd of August.
Last but definitely not least, Wendy, our Senior Vet Nurse at our Chengdu bear rescue sanctuary gave an informative presentation focusing on the seven steps necessary to engage in dog and cat rescues in China. She dedicated her paper to the many dogs of Qimeng rescue centre, with thanks to the rescuers too who, along with everyone at the conference, are creating happier lives for dogs.
Finally, on the topic of responsible dog ownership management, Animals Asia also believes that the responsibility for all dogs, regardless of their breed, must be placed on their guardians. Simply restricting specific breeds can provide a false sense of accomplishment for a governing authority, but does not fully address the issues of poor dog ownership and aggressive behaviour in dogs.
Throughout the world, we have seen many countries adopting new initiatives and changing regulations surrounding specific breeds of dogs. Regulations are removing bans on many breeds previously perceived as “dangerous” dogs, and placing more responsibility on the owners of individual badly behaved dogs. The statistics speak for themselves and progress is being made as a result of these initiatives - and it is growing each year.
We would like to see more governments adopt laws that establish a fair, community-based process by which specific individual dogs (rather than breeds) can be identified as “dangerous” based on stated, measurable actions, and the development of appropriate penalties for irresponsible dog owners.
We hope that this is an area that we can work on together in to the future, so that we may never see the destruction of innocent lives again and so that ultimately the community looks at the dogs living amongst them as animals to be trusted, rather than animals to be feared.
Surely we owe so much to this species that helps and protects us as a society here in China and across the world – an animal that is the only creature on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
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Some pictures just tell a story better than words ever can. Thanks to Tuan, The and Chien for the latest rescue of two indescribably beautiful cubs in Vietnam.
I'll pass the blog over to Tuan who narrates the rescue and sadly references the fact that the cubs, nicknamed Lai Chau and Sin Ho were suspiciously close to the Chinese border. How many cubs weren't so lucky as these two....?
Congratulations to Tuan and team - and welcome home our new little
family members.
Now over to Tuan:
On Thursday 20/9/2012 we left for Lai Chau to rescue 2 moon bear cubs. Lai Chau is approximately 450km North West of Hanoi. It’s a frontier province sharing much of its border with China. According to Lai Chau Forest Protection Department, on the 2/9/2012 the local police in Than Uyen District in Lai Chau Province spotted a suspicious motorbike with 2 men carrying a cane basket in a remote village. They stopped the bike and found 2 cubs in the basket. The men were arrested, and told the police that they had bought the cubs for 1,500 USD and were going to resell them to an unknown buyer from Lao Cai (the bordering province). It is likely that the cubs were on their way to a bear farm in China owing to the close proximity of Lao Cai to China.
The definite age of the cubs is unknown. They weigh approximately 12kg and 9kg, and are both male. Lai Chau FPD contacted us as soon as they were asked by the local police to take over the keeping of the cubs. We sent them our "cub feeding guide" and, because of the early intervention and good effort by Lai Chau FPD in looking after the cubs, both are doing very well and looking healthy.
It took us, in total, almost 12hrs to get back to Tam Dao because of the terrible roads damaged by recent flooding. Lai Chau FPD was very supportive which made the rescue so much easier. Chien looked after the cubs very well, we fed them 4 times a day and made frequent stops because the roads were so bumpy. Our external affairs officer, The, was very good in dealing with Lai Chau FPD and the local police on the way back, as we were stopped 4 times either by the police or local FPD after tip offs by locals who saw the cubs on the road.
See our Rescue Diary for an update on how the cubs are doing at the sanctuary.
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Just recently we were lucky enough to host Asia singer, actress, celebrity, and all round wonderful woman, Karen Mok on yet another visit to our bear sanctuary in Chengdu.
Superstar Karen (often referred to as "the Madonna of Asia”) called in to see our staff and bears and, of course, to say a warm hello to her own rescued bear, Bao Be. Here she Karen with the team, fourth from the left at the back.
According to everyone, Karen was lovely as ever, and I was sorry to have missed her this time - especially as she spent so long admiring Bao Be and, together with Bear Manager Sofie, feeding him treats of dried fruit and cream cheese.
Such treats form part of his enrichment diet and it was clear that he was having a marvellous time being thoroughly spoiled - particularly at one point, according to Sofie, when he very kindly thanked Karen by burping twice in her face,
After forgiving him for his appalling manners, Karen also met Jingle, Bao Be's best friend and seemed sad about Jingle's missing paw, which had probably seen her caught in the wild in a snare or leg-hold trap, before being cruelly caged on a farm. Luckily for Jingle she must have somehow escaped, as we rescued her from farmland, 9 metres up a tree!
As ever, Karen was interested in the whole running of the centre, and said a special thank you to our fabulous bear workers who take care of Bao Be, JIngle and friends. Obviously a cat lover too, she spent a lot of time talking with one of our 22 rescued cats on site - and kindly posed for some pictures with our companion animal education posters, to help us spread the word that dogs and cats are our friends, not food.
With special thanks to Lucky, Susan and Star for all their organisation and help during Karen's visit - and Karen, thank you for popping by, and we hope to welcome you again soon!
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We had such a nice treat at our bear sanctuary in Chengdu recently when Ed Young and his daughter Ananda stayed with us on site.
Ed is already famous for his incredible illustrations in the book "Moon Bear" written by Brenda Guiberson, and published by Henry Holt press, which shows how luckier bears go about their business in the wild and enjoy everything there is to enjoy about life that is truly free.
Ed is a remarkable man. His illustrations not only show the bears but, if you look closely at some of the crescent markings on their chests, you can make out the silhouettes of some members of his family.
In an example too strange to be coincidence, Ed has also had the bears close to his heart for his entire life. As a child, he was originally given a wooden moon bear by his mother when they lived in Shanghai, which he then took with him when he moved to New York. The bear is now over 100 years old, and when we first met there a couple of years ago as the book was being produced, he asked if I would take his moon bear "home" back to China, which of course I was thrilled to do.
Now safely in Chengdu and part of our ursine family, the bear called Yuan Yuan, was taken to the press conference where Ed charmed the media with how his story has come full circle.
The press conference was held at Sisyphe Books - established in 1993, and the most famous book store in Chengdu with branches across the country. The well known children's Reading Promoter, Mr Ajia attended the event and a kind translator who translated Ed's "Moon Bear" book into Chinese very generously gave the fee he was paid to Animals Asia.
Ed also attended a bear's health check where he saw and heard the reality of how much bear farming hurts the bears and, during the press conference, he spoke so movingly about the issue and why he believes that everyone should stand behind those in China in reaching out and freeing the bears from their torture.
Special thanks to our own Susan Zhang for working so hard to make the press conference such a success, and thank you again Ed, so lovely to see you and Ananda again, and please come back very soon.
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Some pictures are just too good to file away - and this most beautiful photo of glorious Banjo, taken recently by our very own Star in Chengdu, was just too perfect not to share.
Enjoy a happy, healthy Banjo, chilling as only bears know how.
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