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.
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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.
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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.
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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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