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Our Vietnam bear sanctuary told to leave |
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Help us stop the eviction
Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Center faces eviction from its site in Tam Dao National Park. On Friday, October 5 Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) informed Animals Asia that the Ministry of Defense had issued an order to evict its Vietnam Bear Rescue Center and the 104 rescued bears who live at the sanctuary. It is believed the park director, Do Dinh Tien, lobbied the Ministry of Defense to evict Animals Asia, so he can hand the land to Truong Giang Tam Dao Joint Stock Company, of which his daughter is part-owner. The company intends to build commercial property including a tourist park and hotels.
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The eviction would see 104 bears that have been rescued from the bile industry relocated, causing unimaginable physical and mental distress, and financial losses to Animals Asia of more than US$2 million.
Please help stop the eviction by writing to the Vietnamese Prime Minister in an appeal to allow the Vietnam Bear Rescue Center to continue and expand in line with the government’s original agreement. To read more about the eviction, please see here.
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| 1,000 doctors sign bear bile pledge |
Over 1,000 Chinese doctors have signed an Animals Asia pledge not to prescribe bear bile to their patients. The doctors were attending the 8th Shanghai International Forum of Infection Control in Shandong province in April. Animals Asia met with doctors at the event and provided information on the cruelty involved in the bear farming industry and the health risks of consuming bile. Read more.
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| Separate owners surrender Vietnam bears |
In April, we rescued a female moon bear from a small, caged concrete enclosure in the loading yard of a Hanoi company. “Song Long” (pictured) had been kept as the company mascot for 13 years since she was a cub, but for safety reasons, the owners felt she had to find a new home. They resisted offers from bile farms to buy their bear, contacting our Tam Dao rescue centre instead because they wanted the best for Song Long. However, a company worker said Song Long had been subjected to bile extraction. Read more.
In May, we brought home a young male bear who had languished for years in the backyard of a private household. Now nicknamed “Trung Hau” (kind and gentle), this poor bear had been milked for his bile for 10 years. The owner decided to hand him over voluntarily due to his own increasing age and difficulty caring for the bear as well as recognising that it was no longer acceptable to keep wildlife.
Read more.
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| Korean tourists targeted to stop China bile trade |
In June, Animals Asia and the Korean Animal Welfare Association launched a public awareness campaign aimed at ending the cross-border trade of bear bile from China to South Korea. It is estimated that 10 per cent of the 30,000 South Koreans who visit China each year buy bear bile and take it home illegally. Read more.
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| Beards for Bears |
Our first Beards for Bears was a great success thanks to 46 caring men around the globe who got “hairy for the bears” and raised much-needed cash from sponsorship. Our thanks also to the 150 people who signed up as Ambassadors, pledging to promote Beards for Bears and help raise sponsorship. If you know someone who may get a kick out of joining in next year, please let them know about this fun campaign. Let’s make next year bigger, better, and hairier!
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| 1st China cat symposium focuses on strays |
Trap, neuter, release programmes were the focus of our 1st China Cat Management Symposium, which saw 70 delegates from 30 welfare groups, across 23 Chinese cities coming together in Beijing. Our Dog and Cat Welfare team worked with Beijing welfare group Lucky Cats to organise the event. Read more.
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| Help for Harbin’s dog lovers |
Animals Asia stepped in after receiving many calls from northeast China’s Harbin City about the harsh terms of the city’s new Dog Management Regulations released in April. Having worked with the Harbin officials before the regulations were formulated, we contacted them again to suggest a number of improvements to their new regulations, for instance, promoting responsible dog ownership instead of banning dogs because of their breed, and exempting families that already have more than one dog from the new one-dog rule.
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| Zoo animals to benefit from China workshop |
In April, Animals Asia collaborated with the China Association of Zoological Gardens (CAZG) and The Shape of Enrichment, a US-based non-profit devoted to improving environmental enrichment for captive animals, to hold a four-day enrichment workshop for 46 animal managers from 25 zoos and safari parks across China. The workshop was held at Zhengzhou Zoo and was the first of its kind in China.
Read more.
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| Raising awareness through love for moon bears |
Animals Asia’s “Love Moon Bears Week” kicked off in Chengdu on World Earth Day (22 April), with activities also held in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Dalian. This popular event sees thousands of people, many of them children, introduced to our campaign to end bear bile farming with a series of fun activities like bike-riding, drawing and drama.
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| Paws for Thought |
Our lovely animal-therapy dogs and human volunteers have been as busy as ever, bringing unconditional comfort and love to those in need in three Mainland Chinese cities and Hong Kong. Go to our latest Paws for Thought.
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