Jill's Blog2008-05-14T19:57:06ZNo AuthorCopyright 2008, No AuthorSPHPBLOGSanctuary buildings unsafe Our US Director, Alice Ng, who was at the sanctuary recently for our latest bear rescue, will be giving the Boston and Florida presentations on my behalf. So while I’m terribly disappointed that I won’t be able to be there in person, at least I know Alice will be there and will do a great job.
The death toll from the earthquake is now well over 20,000 and the situation on site is much worse than first thought. Although people and bears are safe, thank God, most of our staff accommodation buildings are unsafe and out of bounds.
Many of our team are now sleeping on concrete floors in hastily erected emergency shelters and the holding areas for new bears (the “poly-tunnels”). We are desperately trying to source construction experts to help us assess the damage, but with thousands of people similarly affected in the Chengdu area, we have no idea when this work will be able to start.
Fortunately, the dens were built to be bear-proof, so we don’t think they have sustained any structural damage.
As well as dealing with our own problems at the sanctuary, we will, over the next couple of days see how our vet team can be of assistance in the wider community. Given the increasingly grim news that is coming in, including that whole towns have been razed to the ground, there must be many, many animals in need of help.
So Christie, our China Relations Director has been contacting local animal welfare groups and dog and cat rescue facilities to ascertain the situation and what, if any, help is needed at the present time.
Also, as soon as I arrive in Chengdu, Christie, senior vet Heather, rescue centre General Manager Toby and I will be heading to the epicentre of the quake to see how we can help animals on the ground.
With apologies again for having to cancel my first few US presentations – and a huge thanks to Alice for taking on the job at such short notice.
]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080514-0235412008-05-14T00:00:00Z2008-05-14T00:00:00ZFears of another quake Senior vet Heather says everyone at the sanctuary is very worried about accommodation in C1 building and the old hospital, so some of the staff are going to sleep in poly-tunnels and in downstairs bear rooms, etc at the old hospital.
"Asia", Eric our translator's dog went missing yesterday, but she's been found and is safe, thank goodness.
]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080512-2158312008-05-13T00:00:00Z2008-05-13T00:00:00ZAftershocks still occurring It's just heartbreaking. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Chengdu.
Our PR and Education Manager Rainbow Zhu who is at the sanctuary in Chengdu sent through these photos late last night.
Rainbow took this photo just after the major quake. Staff had been gathered in this room having a communications meeting, when the building shook.
Telephone lines were cut intermittently after the quake. Worried staff gathered outside to try to call relatives and friend, but none could get through.
Tiles were torn from the roof of the staff dorm. Tiles also feel from the roof of the new hospital.
Staff gathered in the car park five minutes after the major earthquake... Rainbow wrote: "Aftershocks now again and again. We put a cup of water in the middle of our living room. Ripples often with the noise of the shaking of the door sometimes. Praying all the time."
]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080512-1946372008-05-13T00:00:00Z2008-05-13T00:00:00ZDeath toll rises ]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080512-0627462008-05-12T00:00:00Z2008-05-12T00:00:00ZThousands dead in Chengdu Also, six schools have collapsed and over 900 students are apparently buried in the rubble of the quake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale.
Premier Wen is calling it a disaster and asking for calm.
Our hearts go out to the families of those who lost their lives.
]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080512-0614542008-05-12T00:00:00Z2008-05-12T00:00:00ZSome damage to buildings Buildings shaking and C1 building (office and accommodation) shook a lot and is dodgy. Accommodation is unsafe and there are cracks in the ceiling. Ground moving and building swaying, tiles missing off roofs, concrete has fallen down a big hole in roof of bear kitchen, but people and bears are OK.
House two and three you wouldn't know a thing had happened. Jasper and team lay out sunbathing as if nothing had happened. All other bears bolted back into their dens, panicking and jostling to get back through the slides of their den doors - but OK now. We're still getting tremors and aftershocks.
Heather says all staff have been moved from their regular accommodation to the old and new hospitals.
]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080512-0236542008-05-12T00:00:00Z2008-05-12T00:00:00ZEarthquake in Chengdu The news is still coming in, but the good news is that people and bears are safe at the rescue centre in Chengdu. The quake was felt at the sanctuary and everyone ran to the car park - buildings are apparently intact but are now slowly being checked.
There have been no reports of casualties in Chengdu on the news as yet, although it's all still coming in - and there are stories of buildings collapsing in Yunnan.
Phone lines are down at the centre and communication on email is sporadic. Will let you know more as soon as we know.
]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080512-0137592008-05-12T00:00:00Z2008-05-12T00:00:00ZFarewell “Papermoon” We’ll all miss her – she had a temper on her that would make bears and people jump in surprise – opinionated, stubborn, but with a gentle and affectionate side too.
One of the elderly matriarchs of the enclosure, this larger than life bear, who the rescue centre staff nicknamed “Gail”, made us smile for reasons we’re not really sure of.
Papermoon passed away late on Wednesday night after a battle well fought. I’m in Spain now and it was the saddest of calls to hear Heather at midnight (her time in China) saying there was nothing more that she and the team could do. These amazing girls had, once again, sat with a bear through several nights checking her, reassuring her, doing everything they could.
Papermoon, sponsored by a lovely lady in Germany, was such a fighter. She was one of the first group of three bears we received on a cold night of October 2000 – in a crush cage just behind Andrew and Melody. Beside herself with rage and fear, she convulsed almost incessantly from the time she arrived.
Her body was such a mess. Badly arthritic, teeth and paw tips hacked away, a horrible latex catheter that protruded from her abdomen and then snaked under her skin and exited at the hip – with all the underlying infection you’d expect. As if that wasn’t enough she had a huge dinner-plate-sized burn on her back – festering, weeping and obviously terribly painful.
Although the surgery went well, Papermoon’s temper and convulsing didn’t improve in all the time she was in the recovery cage. It was only when she was put into a den – with Heather, Crystal and Joy that she started behaving like a bear.
Since then, these four “girls” remained together – clustered around in a tight little group, “gossiping” for hours on end and earning the most appropriate name of “the knitting circle”. Woe betide any silly young male who sauntered too close – they were taking no nonsense and would all open wide mouths of warning, which would see the boldest male scuttling back into the safety of his own den.
The group lost Joy from liver cancer in 2004 and will be all the quieter now for the loss of “Gail”. ]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080504-0953202008-05-04T00:00:00Z2008-05-04T00:00:00ZFive bears fighting back! We are waiting to make sure they're all on the road to recovery before we start naming them with the official names chosen by sponsors on the waiting list. Meanwhile, we've given them all nicknames.
Here are Heather's notes:
"Rasta" has recovered well from coughing/diarrhoea, has very sore eyes and awful teeth so was anaesthetised on Tuesday for a dental. We extracted all four of her canine teeth and one molar tooth. All were rotten and she had extensive infection in her jaw bones. She also had ulcers on both of her corneas, which were treated. She is currently on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
"Suki" has recovered well, but is a little constipated this week as she’s developed a fondness for dog-food sachets while she was sick. We’re gradually weaning her back onto bear food. She over-grooms her hair (a learned behaviour due to boredom on the farm) and has extensive hair-loss, but the hair is slowly growing back as she plays with her enrichment [toys] more.
"Sarah" has no more coughing or diarrhoea, and looks really well
"Eeyore" is refusing to eat her vegetables, but eats everything else and is very bright and well and active. She looks good, no coughing or diarrhoea.
"Flipper" has no problems; he has recovered well. ]]>http://www.animalsasia.org/blog/index.php?entry=entry080503-0045492008-05-03T00:00:00Z2008-05-03T00:00:00ZDanke Germany, Austria and Luxembourg! Christie, our China Relations Director, came with me and was able to speak first-hand of the challenges faced by animals and people in her country. She was delighted to meet our supporters face to face and I think they were even more delighted to meet her after hearing about the programmes initiated by her team for making the world a better place for dogs and cats in China.
Heart-warming welcomes came from audiences everywhere. In Cologne, we were privileged to meet Heinz Wiescher from ETN – a group that has been so incredibly generous over the years and has sponsored a whole bear house for our sanctuary in Chengdu. Most of the bears in House 6 are disabled – missing paws, teeth, claws and eyes – but you would never know it watching this group of little delinquents loving (and destroying) their carefully constructed play platforms in the enclosure.
It was wonderful to meet our friend Christiane von Schwind – a TV producer on WDR who many years ago sparked interest for our bears in Germany with her touching stories and gained us many new and loyal supporters. I believe that the story will be shown in the next few weeks on Tiere suchen ein Zuhause – so if you’re able to pick up German TV, please keep your eyes peeled for that!
On to Hildesheim, where our long-term and passionate supporter, Danielle Sofie, jumped out of a light aircraft – in a bear suit. She has done this many times in the past, but watching her fall many metres from the sky certainly saw hearts in mouths and a collective sigh of relief from the audience as she landed safely on solid ground.
Heinz Habenicht and Manfred Herzog gave her a helping hand and proved once more that supporters of AAF are great at teamwork whenever it’s needed!
Next it was on to Salzburg – and what an event that was. The location was Gut Aiderbichl – the most magnificent rescue centre for all sorts of domesticated animals rescued from farms and slaughterhouses in Austria. It was truly a place of peace and tranquillity with horses, pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and goats – plus a few unruly dogs and cats – all living together harmoniously. The founder of this peaceful haven is Michael Aufhausser (below), who is famous across Europe for not only rescuing so many individual animals, but causing every visitor to reflect on how our smallest steps can change a world of cruelty for farm animals today.
Lots of animal lovers had come to Aiderbichl, most of them Austrians, to learn more about the plight of the moon bears and at the end of my presentation another surprise was waiting – the Committee of Gut Aiderbichl devoted a special prize for animal welfare each year and this year it was my great honour receive it – naturally on behalf of Jasper and our other four-legged friends many thousands of miles away!
During that day and a half, we were pleased to see presenter Maggie Entenfeller and her film crew from Austrian TV ORF on site and once again devoting so much filming time to our Asian animal projects in a programme that will go out in Germany later in May.
Another surprise was to meet some of our lovely Luxembourg supporters at Gut Aiderbichl – including Anita and René Claus, who helped us out with some amazing pictures (René is standing with me below).
The next day we were hot-footing it to the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, where we met with Chinese Ambassador Ma Carong and his staff. The meeting had been organised by long-time supporter and friend Frau Alexandra Oetker, who sponsors no less than three bears in Chengdu. Frau Oetker arrived for coffee that morning with her two gorgeous rescued dogs in tow – a lovely start to the day having a little animal therapy before we all rushed off to the Embassy.
Mr Ma Carong was attentive and thoughtful at our meeting, during which we passed over just a few of the 55,000 petitions signed by people in Germany respectfully asking that China accelerate the rescue of farmed bears and close the industry down.
Christie and I also handed over the horrific new pictures of bears just received – including the 11 that had died from liver cancer – and were pleased to hear Mr Ma promising to forward our evidence and concerns to high-level departments in Beijing.
Finally we hopped on a plane for our last event in Munich and our meeting with the marvellous Barbara Rütting – a Green MP, actress and author of 18 vegetarian books. I hope she won’t mind me mentioning that she is 80 years old – a walking advert for a healthy diet and beautiful of face and heart. (Barbara is the lady in pink above and below.)
Barbara has helped us so much in political platforms for the bears and it was lovely for us all to just sit down at the end of the event, share some pasta with this passionate, articulate woman, and just relax.
Also at the dinner we were delighted to meet with Sandra and Roland Schwarzl. Roland is an Austrian athlete who is taking part in the Beijing Olympic Games this coming August – complete with Animals Asia T-shirt!
The Munich event itself – with such wonderful supporters, more tears for the bears and smiles of hope as projects were outlined to help them – rounded off a perfect roadshow.
All of the events over the past week were filled with friends who have been so dedicated over the years – and we need to thank you all – each and every one of you, for the faith and help you so selflessly offer to bears, dogs and cats so many thousands of miles away in the midst of your own busy lives. Thank you from us all – we had the best of times and can’t wait to return again.
