One special man - Chen Junliang who is quite a celebrity in Shenzhen - came along to sing during the event. Junliang is blind and works for the Shenzhen Luohu District Disabled Persons Federation as a psychological health care teacher. He chose a song "You are my eyes", dedicated to a dog he calls his "brother", named Xiao Q and had the whole audience moved with his words and his beautiful voice.
Junliang's mother had raised Xiao Q from a puppy, training him to be a guide dog for the blind and planning to sell him to the Guide Dog Training Centre once training was complete. However, a year later they all decided that they couldn't bear to be separated from Xiao Q and decided to keep him, He now guides Junliang from his home to the office and the two of them are now inseparable as a result of their mutual trust and friendship. Xiao Qu has also recently passed our Dr Dog exam which means that he is spreading more love and respect as a community dog in Shenzhen.
Another Dr Dog owner, Carol, has a dog called Coffee who she often calls "Chairman" for fun. On the day of our event she was touched to see an abandoned child - a burns victim with badly scalded skin and missing fingers who was gently holding and kissing Coffee and enjoying being offered Coffee's affectionate love in return. Carol commented on her microblog that "Dogs are so special. They are born to be loved by so many people - I am wiling to be the slave of dogs".
Such moments are irreplaceable and help us to know that Dr Dog continues to spread warmth and healing as the programme goes on.
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It was beyond fabulous to see Dr Dame Jane Goodall recently in Hong Kong during her whirlwind visit and her presentation at the Royal Geographical Society.
Jane, who named one of our bears in Chengdu "Mandela" several years ago, also found time in her busy schedule to film a message to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, appealing to him to allow us to keep our sanctuary and also keep to the spirit of the Project Agreement he'd signed.
During her presentation, Jane spoke movingly about her life's work - from the beginnings .... her inspirational mother who encouraged both her love of worms and her curiosity in exploring how eggs were really laid. Her mother then accompanied her to Africa to work with Dr Richard Leakey - which ultimately inspired both a world renowned primatologist and a UN Ambassador of Peace.
Jane also spoke of another inspirational influence - her dog Rusty - and that's probably the story I like most of all. The concept of animals being embraced as individuals, has been the same inspiration behind the foundation of Animals Asia, rather than always lumped into species, or thought of as "things" to be exploited for our gain. It is why a dog named Max became the inspiration for Dr Dog - now in its 21st year across Asia - and why a bear called Hong began the dream of the China bear rescue.
Above: Jane is surrounded by her adoring fans. Below: Here's Jane with publisher and photographer Michael Neugebauer who's holding his iconic photo that's become the most famous picture of Jane of all. And in the last pic here we are with Jane's beloved "Mr H" - and with the travelling teddy that I gave her a couple of years ago (to keep her safe).
Sometimes the word "tireless" is used far too casually - but in Jane's case, it most definitely applies. Never spending more than three weeks in one place, Jane is a remarkable ambassador for all species - and for the healing of our broken planet. Through her wisdom, her compassion, she's a shining example of how to live one's life - the "things" we collect, at the end of the day, mean nothing without a clean environment, healthy families, and animals our children will respect and protect. Thank you Jane, with endless strength and love as your work goes on.
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The film "Moon Bear" recently swept more awards in China - this time from Jet Li's One Foundation.
Actor, producer and martial artist Jet Li has long been concerned with social issues - and his foundation awarded "Moon Bear" with no less than three awards at the ceremony in Beijing. Toby, our External Affairs Director, was there to accept the award on behalf of the brave production team, Elsa Xiong, Chen Yuanzhong and Tu Qiao, who were praised by the judges for their courage, and for the film's positive impact on wildlife protection.
Here's Toby (left) accepting the award from Jet Li.
Endless congratulations Elsa, Yuanzhong and Tu Qiao for the voice you have given the suffering moon bears, which grows louder each time your film receives the awards it so much deserves.
See the full story here.
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What a lovely, lovely night at the Royal Geographical Society in London on the 18 October. Endless thanks to hosts David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, Environmental Investigation Agency (and especially Debbie Banks who gave an amazing presentation of the increasing problems that tigers face today).
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.
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(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.
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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.
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