Thanks to Dr Kaicun Zhao who spoke with such conviction and intelligence about "healing without harm", and MC Mark Carwardine who gave a passionate presentation, speaking first hand about the terrible plight of rhino's, including one individual called Max, who has now joined the ranks of hundreds this year, slaughtered for his horn.
So many people to thank for the night, and who joined us all in supporting the end of bear and tiger farming too.
Over to Nicky in our UK office who has summed up a perfectly wonderful evening here.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to rescue appeal now |
(Apologies to all our visitors below that this is late being posted owing to the crisis in Vietnam.)
What a month September was, with an endless stream of visitors flying in to China from all over the world and giving us the opportunity of thanking them all for their years of kindness and support to the bears.
First to arrive were our friends from Luxembourg who have raised enough funding to help us build no less than three bear houses, and rescue 25 bears - and were here on their second visit to see how things have progressed since September 2009.
Led by Denise Kirchen (pictured above in the middle), the group - Anne, Beatrice, Jean-Marie, Maggy, Christiane, and tour guide Yong Zhang - were wonderful to host on site, as we introduced them again to their old bear friends, such as Heather, Ashley, Tina, Francy, Happy, Metty, Lucky 2, Leon and, of course, beautiful Tibetan brown bear, Poupouce.
Bringing the national flag all the way from Luxembourg, Denise carefully attached it to the "Brown House" where Poupouce and her brother Benji live, and declared it "open" on behalf of the Luxembourg team.
Denise and the Luxembourg team were also invited to "assist" in our surgery, as they helped during a routine health check on Tinsley - stroking fur, clipping claws, and working with vet Jo, and vet nurses, Wendy, Karli and Vicki in making sure that Tinsley was happy and healthy, and wouldn't need to be checked again for at least another two years.
.jpg)
That afternoon, we were joined by Pamela Barton MBE, who is the previous President of the SPCA (HK) and has been a long-standing friend of the bears and I for nearly 30 years. Pamela is a remarkable woman who has crammed several lifetimes in to one, and who kept everyone enthralled and very amused with her stories starting from when she maintained jeeps during the second world war!
The day went by quickly as we enjoyed seeing bears playing together in the summer sunshine, or lolling about in their pools, before we quietly walked through the graveyard and cages of shame area, to reflect upon the tragedy of bear farming in all its shameful truth.
That night we had our 14th anniversary party on site where we were able to thank Denise and team, and Pamela, properly for all their generosity over the years - saying a big "xie xie ni" to them all. The party was also great fun considering that it was Pamela's birthday and everyone got to eat cake!
Just the next day, we were host to more wonderful supporters, this time from the UK - Oliver and Gitte, Barbara (Babs), Sarah, Daphne, Jenny, Neal and Melissa - again long-standing and generous supporters who have travelled a long road with Animals Asia since our campaign began.
In the morning we had a birthday surprise for Pamela who was able to meet one of her sponsored bears, Beau, very close up, as she was due for a health check and was there on the table when we walked in to the surgery to meet the vet and bear team. Oliver and Gitte were our official vet nurses for the morning, but were also joined by the others in a happy few hours where Beau passed her health check with flying colours.
That afternoon, standing on the roof of House 10, it wasn't very long before dear old Oliver shuffled out in to his enclosure and began slowly and stiffly foraging for his food. This is his favourite part of the day and we could almost hear him "humming" as he pottered around, searching out his "smorgasbord" of good things to eat. Of course I hardly dared look at anyone, as I knew that there would be tears - of both sadness and joy for a bear that had spent 30 years in a cage, but was loving his new life today.
That night we had dinner on top of House 5 and 6 and were joined by our vet and bear team as everyone got to know each other and shared stories about the bears. Creeping down in to the dens at 7pm we were able to enjoy the bears snoozing in their hanging basket beds and smiled at knowing that they would now be dreaming (and sometimes snoring) until 8am the next morning. Not a bad night's sleep in anyone's books.
The next day it was time for our UK team to see something completely different in the form of Dr Dog. Over we went to a home for the elderly in Chengdu, to meet the residents and their special therapists who were visiting them for the morning to offer them comfort of the canine kind. The atmosphere was indescribable with the elderly residents crowding around the dogs and offering them treats and hugs in equal measures. Our Dr Dog volunteers kept everything marvellously in control as of course did Suki and team who head up the programme in Chengdu.
Last but not least that week we welcomed bear Bill's sponsors on site - Steve and Sue Dullard from Hong Kong, plus their niece Tegan. Steve, Sue and I have known each other for years - and I'll never forget their wedding day many years ago when, instead of wedding presents, they asked friends to donate to Animals Asia. They are beyond generous, a lot of fun too, and surprising for them (grin) almost speechless when Bill came right up the fenceline - several times - to say a cheery hello.
With grateful thanks to Richard Zhou especially for being the point person in coordinating our visitors on site - but special thanks too to everyone for giving our international supporters and friends another unforgettable few days in Bearland.
| Share this article with your friends | Donate to rescue appeal now |
Thank you all - every group and individual who has written to the authorities in Vietnam in this unprecedented show of support.
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 |
Next Previous
