We have been inundated with letters and messages flooding into our in-boxes each day. To date, over 130 groups from across the world have signed on to our appeal letter to the Prime Minister, and 11 ambassadors in Vietnam representing the embassies of the US, UK, Australia, Italy, Finland, Switzerland, Canada, Slovakia, Belgium, Ireland, and the European Delegation, have signed a letter to the Vietnamese Prime Minister appealing to him to stop the eviction.
Please, please keep it coming - we are in this fight to win and keep our bears safe and happy at our sanctuary in Tam Dao National Park. The very thought of moving them elsewhere, putting bears like Bubu - pictured here as he was on the farm and now at our rescue centre - back into cages as a new sanctuary is developed (with all that entails) is just impossible to contemplate.
And so too is the thought of saying goodbye to so many of our loyal, hard working staff who would not be able to move away from their homes.
For justice, for compassion, and with endless thanks from us all.
To sign our petition and/or to send an email to the Prime Minister, please click here.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to rescue appeal now |
Further to my previous blog - I'll be at various events in the UK this week, and updating about our challenges in Vietnam.
I always love coming back to the UK - even after living in Asia for nearly thirty years it's just good to return to what will always be my second home. This year, I'm especially looking forward to taking part in a fascinating joint event at the Royal Geographical Society, London with our good friends at David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. "Healing without Harm" takes place this Thursday, 18th October
I'll be joining well-known TV presenter Mark Carwardine and EIA’s lead investigator, Debbie Banks, to discuss the legal and illegal trade in bear bile and tiger parts.
I'll be focusing on the truly horrible practice of bear farming and, together with Debbie, talking about the exploitation of endangered species, which is fuelling a multi-million pound industry that is devastating wild populations and inflicting unnecessary pain on captive animals. We shall be looking at the trade, at farming, at the rise of public support, and what can be done to stop the suffering.
I'm particularly pleased that we are to be joined by Dr Kaicun Zhao, Vice President of the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine who fully supports the concept of Healing without Harm and why we can - and should - live without animal products in traditional medicine.
Please do come and join us in London. This is one of the most important issues both in conservation and animal welfare and it should be a fascinating and enlightening evening. Please click here to buy tickets or phone our UK office.
See you there!
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to rescue appeal now |
Last Friday, we received some shocking news. Animals Asia was handed an official eviction notice from the Ministry of Defence stating that our bear sanctuary, our home for the bears, had to leave Tam Dao National Park.
Having previously failed to have us evicted through a smear campaign, the director of the park has, it seems, used his influence to convince the Department of Defence to declare the site an area of strategic importance and therefore unsuitable as a rescue facility. This claim, of course, is outrageous and holds no substance at all.
If enforced, the eviction order would mean our entire sanctuary – including all 104 bears – would have to move to a new rescue facility. It would mean putting traumatised bears that have been rescued from bile farms back into cages and keeping them there until we have found and built suitable facilities elsewhere.
Many of these bears are disabled in some way, even blind or missing limbs, and it has taken many months for them to recover enough to be able to go outside and to begin to trust humans again. The thought of having to put them back into metal holding cages - even temporarily - after all they have been through already, is heartbreaking for us all. The thought of telling nearly 80 staff members that their jobs are gone is also just too horrible to contemplate.
And why does the park director want us to leave? So that a tourism park and hotels can be built there instead – by a company that is part-owned by his daughter.
After working so hard for so many years to build a relationship with the authorities, and having signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government in 2005 to build the sanctuary at Tam Dao and go ahead with the rescue of bears from bile farms, this latest move is devastating. How can this one man wield so much power? How can a project authorised and approved by the Prime Minister himself now be overturned? What sort of precedent does this set for anyone wanting to invest in Vietnam – whether a charity or business – when an agreement signed by the PM is simply not worth the paper it’s written on?
The only way that this injustice can be stopped is if the Prime Minister of Vietnam overturns the eviction. We need your help like never before. Please email the Prime Minister and appeal to his sense of justice and compassion. Don’t let the greed of one man damage the years of hard work that has gone into the sanctuary and our campaign to end bear bile farming.
Read the full story here. Then please help stop the eviction. Send a letter and sign our petition.
You have always been here for the bears – the progress we’ve seen in both China and Vietnam to end bear bile farming has seen so much success as we continue fighting against an industry of cruelty and deceit – but never did we think we would be at war with those who were charged with protecting us. Please make your voices heard and show the Prime Minister of Vietnam that his honourable and compassionate decision will be applauded by people across the world.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to rescue appeal now |
Following on from the conference in Dalian, it is noteworthy to acknowledge the collaboration between ourselves and many other welfare groups with the authorities across China over the past few years, which have led to significant progress for dogs and cats across the country.
To date, we've launched three China Dog Ownership Management Symposiums and seen officials from a whole host of cities joining these workshops and discussing better ways to share our lives humanely and harmoniously with dogs. Cities include Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Dalian, Tianjin, Jilin, Harbin, Jinan, Changsha, Xi'an, Mianyang, Guangyuan, Kunming, Luoyang, Nanning, Qinhuangdao, Nanjing, Xuzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Zhuhai, Shijiazhuang, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, and Nanchang.
Many city governments have now formulated notable regulations for their dog ownership management work - some of which are very briefly summarised here:
In Chengdu, village committees are encouraged to work more responsibly with the authorities on public education programmes, and guardians are not allowed to abuse or abandon their dogs. Here, where our China bear rescue sanctuary operates, Animals Asia also works closely with the Chengdu authorities, launching a wide range of events in the local communities across the city.
In massive progress, the Guangzhou authorities have drastically reduced their dog management fees, and dog owners now only have to pay RMB500 in the first year compared with RMB10,000 previously, and RMB300 in the years after that compared with RMB6000 before! This is clearly seeing more people responsibly registering their dogs. The Public Security Bureaus (PSB's) are asked to set up dog shelters and encourage citizens to join adoption programmes for the rescued animals - and here again people are no longer permitted to abuse or abandon their dogs. A new dog shelter is under construction and will later be open to the public to promote dog adoption.
In Harbin, amongst many other developments, owners of desexed dogs pay just half of the management fees, and the PSB's entrust local animal welfare groups to rescue and care for stray dogs. Dog fighting is banned, with strict penalties and confiscations if they occur.
In Xi'an, where so many initiatives are in place to help dogs, social organisations and volunteer groups are also encouraged to participate in dog management activities, and the blind and disabled who keep guide dogs and assistance dogs are exempted from paying management fees.
In Shanghai, where they also adopt many of the above initiatives, the animal protection organisations and other NGOs are also authorised to conduct shelter and adoption work with the approval of the PSBs, and this is encouraged by the PSBs who can pay the organisations to fulfil their supervisory responsibilities.
In Nanning, several strong regulations protecting dogs also exist, and in Chongqing, the blind and disabled who keep guide dogs, together with dog owners who are elderly with no family, are exempt from management service fees.
Last but not least, in Dalian, where the conference was hosted by the wonderful PSB officials, the Dalian Dog Management Office has developed an impressive dog shelter, which is built to the highest humane and scientific standards and guarantees all the dogs’ welfare. They also work superbly well with the local animal protection groups, holding Open Days to attract public attention - and dog registration is totally free!
With so much progress in so many cities, it's clear why Animals Asia and so many other NGOs in China continue encouraging conferences, events, public education programmes, and many other initiatives to keep the work - and humane treatment of companions animals - moving ever forward.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to rescue appeal now |
What a difference in nearly three decades........ when I first came to Asia in 1985, there was one registered animal welfare group in China - and now there are close to one hundred organisations and too many government officials and departments to mention who are working side by side in addressing the problems and solutions of sharing our lives with wild, domestic and endangered species.
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.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to rescue appeal now |
Next Previous
