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	It's been another jam-packed three months with the horror of China's dog culls, the joy of new arrivals at our Vietnam sanctuary, and the sadness of the death of our dear little moon bear, "Franzi". We've been busy designing some gorgeous new Christmas cards and a new “moon bear calendar” for next year – both featuring stunning portrait shots of our rescued bears. We've also been working urgently to secure the release of 79 bears being held illegally on farms in Vietnam. After 24 months of lobbying by Animals Asia and other NGOs, these bears remain in appalling conditions on farms. So we've launched a global letter-writing campaign – please read on to see how you can help! Jill is coming to town! Jill is coming to the US this November. She’ll kick off a 10-day US Roadshow with a Washington DC high tea fundraiser followed by a public lecture at the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Next Jill will make her way west to the San Francisco Bay area, where she’ll be joined by our lead vet, Heather and bear manager, Nic for several exciting events. These include Dancing for the Bears – a fundraising salsa party in Sausalito that’s sure to be loads of fun! For the entire Roadshow schedule and information on how to buy tickets for the various events, please see here or call the box office on 0207388 8822. Give 'gifts with meaning' these Holidays! We're just finalising our Christmas Catalog, which we hope you'll find as enticing as we do. This year, we have some great new "gifts with meaning" that allow you to fund specific parts of our work on behalf of your loved ones. And there are gifts for all budgets – you could buy the bears a pot of honey or fund the vital gall-bladder surgery they all need because of their years of abuse on the farms. Please visit our Gift Shop now. New support groups in US and Canada Animals Asia has always relied on volunteer support groups to help spread the word about our work and raise much-needed funds for our projects. In the past year, four new support groups have been formed here in North America and the leaders of all four are looking for supporters to help join their outreach efforts on behalf of the bears, dogs and cats of Asia. If you are interested in learning more about one of our new groups, please contact: New York City Group, Madeliene Truax; animalsasianyc@gmail.com Washington DC Group, Amy Wilson; savemoonbearsdc@gmail.com Marin California Group, Morgan Lance; mlance@animalsasia.org Toronto Canada Group, Nina Muller; ninafmuller@hotmail.com Goodbye little Franzi Last month we said goodbye to our much-loved "Franzi", who arrived at our Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu in December 2002 in a cage so small that it had severely stunted her growth. She spent almost 25 years on a bile farm in that barbaric cage. This remarkable little bear amazed us all over the years with her tenacity of spirit and incredible will to survive. She also won our hearts with her funny, endearing traits and insistence on doing things her particular way. It was her heart that gave out in the end, but this brave little bear will always live on in our hearts. Please go to Jill's Blog for our founder's tribute to Franzi – and you can see Franzi's photo album here. Send letters for the bears! Please help us convince the Vietnamese government to hand over 79 bears being held illegally on farms at Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh Province in Vietnam. Despite constant appeals and lobbying to the authorities by Animals Asia and other NGOs over the past two years, these bears are still at the mercy of bile farmers. We’re planning to deliver thousands of letters from around the world to the Vietnamese Prime Minister in November. Please join us and ask your friends to write also, so we can deliver the strongest message possible. Please click here now for details. Here's a photo taken on one of the farms. It was sent to us by a horrified Taiwanese tourist. Donate Now Animals Asia's Gift Shop Moon Bear Rescue Friends.... or Food? Dog culls back with a vengeance This summer saw a return of China’s shocking dog culls, with up to 40,000 dogs being brutally slaughtered on the streets of one city alone – the authorities in Hangzhong, Shaanxi Province, implemented a cull of all dogs in response to a case of human rabies. But while the killing continues, increasingly, there is hope. Following campaigning by Animals Asia, the authorities in Qinghuangdao, Hebei Province decided to abandon an imminent cull. Plans are now under way for a ground-breaking workshop in Guangzhou and Hong Kong in December. This will bring together Chinese animal – welfare groups and Government officials from provinces both involved in the culls and seeking to end them. For more about the culls, please see here. Four more bears rescued in Vietnam! Please help us convince the Vietnamese government to hand over 79 bears being held illegally on farms at Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh Province. While our campaign continues for the release of 79 illegal (unmicrochipped and unregistered) bears suffering on farms in Ha Long Bay, our Vietnam Director Tuan Bendixsen has successfully negotiated the release of four other bears in the past three months. Three of these bears were confiscated from farms under the same conditions as the 79 – they had been identified as illegal by the authorities. Click for the full story. Sweet success for Honey Money Days We’ve had a great response to our Honey Money Days campaign this August and September, with supporters around the globe holding some fantastic events to raise money to build a new bear house at our China sanctuary. In Switzerland, one couple sold off "moon bear bank notes" at their wedding, in Hong Kong, bankers gathered for a garden party for the bears and one lovely UK supporter worked for a day as a waitress/washer-up in the Teddy Bear Tea Rooms in York and donated her day's wages to Honey Money Days! Check our Honey-o-meter to see how close we are to building the new bear house. Three times the trouble! Brother and sister, Angus and Maggie, who arrived at our Vietnam sanctuary as adorable cubs in April, have welcomed baby Taurus into their play circle. Now the three little ones have been integrated in their own big den! Taurus (who was rescued shortly after Angus and Maggie) is a little younger than the two siblings, but he was soon tumbling, climbing and wrestling his days away with his new friends. Please see here for more pics of this gorgeous trio. To be removed from this list, please send a message to info@animalsasia.org with the word REMOVE in the Subject line.