re China Bears issue article

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

There was a well written article with pictures about the Animals Asia

Foundation

and the cruelty to bears in China in the Australian Magazine (liftout from

" the Australian " ), Feb 10-11th 2001.

 

AAF needs $4 million dollars to complete construction of its permanent bear

sanctuary in Ziyang, China

 

 

Here is a small excerpt from " A taste of freedom " Bear bile is a popular

Chinese medicine but its extraction causes the animals great suffering. One

group now aims to save the bears - by buying them.

 

Story Lynne O'Donnell

Photography Dermot Tatlow

 

[From the AAF refuge holding facility]

 

" A couple of hundred metres down a rutted road is a patch of lawn surrounded

by an

electrified fence, and a concrete shed big enough for the 60-odd cages that

have

been delivered since September. As the time approaches for another delivery,

the dozens of moon bears caged in gloom can sense the anticipation anong the

people

outside waiting for the truck to arrive.

 

Slowly the bears' anxiety grows, starting with a hollow clicking they make

with their

tongues. Then they start to rock their cages in a rythm that becomes a riot

of frantic fear.

Their moans grow louder as the creaking truck that has already bought scores

of bears

to the tiny compound negotiates its way through potholes and backs up to the

delivery

ramp. As the truck's gate is lowered, the AAF team struggles

aboard to check on its new charges, sorting them in to priority according to

the urgency

of treatment required before unloading them into concrete yards below.

 

The bears cringe in the cages. One of them barks fiercely. Jill Robinson

edges towards the cage holding a small female that has lost both its front

paws, and offers a piece of apple. " Food helps them calm down a bit. " she

says. Those in the worst conditions, like Mona, a middle-aged femal whose

yellow crescent is little more than a line across her chest, will be treated

as soon as practical

for the secondary problems that have developed during their time on the

[bile] farms.

 

When Mona's turn comes the next day, Robinson moves to the front of the cage

and distracts her with

some food as Cochrane quicly prods her rump with an anaesthetic. " Depending

on how distressed

the bear is, sometimes we have to do that two or three times to knock them

out, " Cochrane says.

 

But Mona is out in one. Boris Chau, a dedicated AAF worked from Hong Kong,

pries open the cage and, with Robinson's help, Cochrane and English

veterinary nurse Amanda Lloyd drag the animal onto a tarpaulin. Lloyd

attaches a clamp to the bears tongue to monitor heartbeat. Robinson pulls on

a

pair of surgical gloves and starts cleaning the animals filthy ears, taking

blood and checking for signs of arthritis. Cochran shaves Mona's belly to

reveal a huge perforated hernia just near the protruding catheter. She prods

the bubbling mass of infection to determine its depth and severity, then

cleans it and checks Mona's general condition - arthritic, dehydrated, feet

cracked and bleeding, wasted muscles.

 

" Bears are such resistant animals that they will eat under almost any

circumstances, " Cochrane says.

" Put a dog or cat in these conditions and they will refuse to eat and

eventually starve themselves to death, but not a bear. But this one hasn't

been eating, and I'm not very surprised because of the hernia; she's very

sick. "

 

Cleaned up, sprayed with repellent, tagged and details logged, Mona is put

back in the cage and left to come around. She'll have to wait a while before

the cathater is removed and she can get on with the process of

rehabilitation - which includes intensive physiotherapy and socialisation.

The queue for operations is long, and Cochrane expects to be cutting bits of

metal out of bears for months to come. "

 

For more information visit http://www.animalsasia.org

[Guest guest]

Bunny wrote:

> AAF needs $4 million dollars to complete construction of its permanent bear

> sanctuary in Ziyang, China

 

I have just got back from two weeks at the China Bear Rescue Centre -

physically, mentally and emotionally gruelling.

I can honestly say that there is no better charity to support. Apart from the

rescue and rehabilitation of the individual wretched bears, this project

presents an extraordinary opportunity to introduce into China ideas of

compassion to animals.

Please visit the AAF site at:

http://www.animalsasia.org/

John.