Since we rescued over 100 earthquake dogs in Dujiangyan in May and June, a construction team has been busy building the new Animals Asia-funded enclosures at a rescue centre we are co-operating with in
Chengdu.
A fond farewell to Jen O'Dwyer (our resident vet in Vietnam) for a few weeks as she leaves us to get married in Australia to her very own "Bear" – yes that really is the nickname of her husband-to-be, John.
Who could resist him? Laid out on our surgery table today in Vietnam with our brilliant vet team momentarily forgetting their serious faces and clucking around him like foster mums, David slept in total oblivion, breathing rhythmically and strongly as he received his first health-check ever.
This week saw our Dr Dogs involved in a truly remarkable exercise. Dr Eddie and our team of canine therapists reached out to executives of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) – and charmed them all. We were invited to take part in a series of anti-stress workshops as part of HSBC’s Work Life Balance Day and visited four locations across Hong Kong.
One of the nicest stages – and sometimes one of the most heart-in-mouth moments – is when we start moving the new bears in their recovery cages closer to each other in preparation for guiding them into groups.
I’m so sorry to bring you more terrible news from Chengdu, but two more of our bears have passed away – Devon and Niki.
The recent scandal in China of baby formula and milk containing melamine has seen over 6,000 babies affected and three who have died. One of the responses from the Chinese Government was that they hadn't been alerted to this before and were blaming the milk companies concerned for keeping the growing crisis from the ears of the Government and innocent public.
So sad to let you know that we lost Lucky Rui on Thursday after she was found collapsed in her den at 8am when our staff entered to feed the residents of Bear House 5.
It just goes to show what a large dose of tender loving care can do for a little earthquake victim in need. Back in May, after being picked up from the devastated streets of Dujiangyan, it was hard to identify Rubble as a dog.
As you know, our bears love to climb and some of the residents of House 1 – Stardust, Starlight and Dilly – have recently launched their own tree-climbing club! Here they are on one of their inaugural climbs (from the top, Stardust, Dilly and Starlight).
Jill founded Animals Asia in 1998, after an encounter with a caged bear on a farm in China changed her life forever. She now heads a team of over 300 enthusiastic staff and divides her time between our bear rescue centres in China and Vietnam and our Hong Kong head office. She travels extensively to participate in conferences and speak at fundraising events.
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