(CN) Beijing Olympics/Bile Bears

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From WSPA:

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, March 07, 2001

 

Images Beijing doesn't want the IOC to see!!

 

Animal welfare advocates say IOC should torpedo China's Olympic bid based on

the country's appallingly cruel treatment of endangered bears.

 

Toronto, Canada. " The image of full grown bears trapped in cages that don't

permit them to lie down properly-bile oozing from a tube or open wound in

their bellies-should be all the International Olympic Committee needs to

make up their minds about Beijing, charges Pat Tohill, spokesperson for the

Toronto office of the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

 

WSPA argues that the horrific conditions endured by bears milked for their

bile on Chinese bear farms should take Beijing out of the running for the

2008 Olympic bid. According to the group, which is launching an

international campaign to oppose the Beijing bid, there are nearly 7,000

bears imprisoned in China's infamous " bear farms " where they are " milked "

for their bile twice daily. Bile has been used in traditional Chinese

medicines for thousands of years. However, the use of bear bile is today

unnecessary as synthetics and alternatives to bear bile are readily

available. There are 75 known herbal alternatives within the traditional

Chinese medical pharmacopoeia itself.

 

Chinese bear farms, some of them state supported, continue to produce

thousands of tonnes of bear bile annually, nearly twice the current rate of

consumption. In order to market this product, bear bile is now being used in

the manufacture of many non-essential products such as wines, tonics and

shampoos.

 

No species of bear native to China has been spared. Asiatic black bears,

brown bears and sun bears are all milked for their bile. All are endangered

species. To obtain their bile, bears are surgically mutilated, often by

untrained workers with no veterinary skills.

 

Bile is extracted using fistulae ( " tissue canals " ) cut into the bears'

bellies that allow bile to be drained into bottles or bowls using a metal

tube thrust into the abdomen. WSPA investigators have reported witnessing

signs of severe distress in bears during the extraction process. Moaning and

banging of heads against cages are commonplace, and some bears have been

seen gnawing on their own paws.

 

WSPA believes that bile extraction can never be carried out in a humane

manner. Until bear farming is banned in China, there should be no

consideration given to the bid to host the Olympic Games in Beijing.

 

In a letter being sent to International Olympic Committee offices in

Switzerland, WSPA urges the IOC to take into consideration the unnecessary

animal suffering of bears in China and reject the Beijing bid. Copies of its

report entitled " The veterinary, behavioural and welfare implications of

bear farming in Asia " and undercover video footage shot last year will

accompany the letter.

 

Adds Tohill: " There is strong international support for the campaign to ban

this outrageous and barbaric industry. We believe that there will be an

international outcry if Beijing continues to be considered as a candidate to

host the 2008 Olympics. "

 

" If the Olympic games represent the highest and greatest manifestation of

the human spirit, China's bear farms represent the greatest expression of

man's ability to cause suffering to another living being. We urge the IOC to

open their eyes and judge the Chinese bid accordingly. A nation that treats

its animals this poorly does not represent the Olympic spirit. "

 

The World Society for the Protection of Animals has more than 400 member

organizations around the world and represents millions of individual

supporters. Canadian member organizations include the Ontario SPCA, the

Alberta SPCA, BC SPCA, among others.

 

For photos, video and report contact:

Patrick Tohill, WSPA 416-369-0044

 

Read about China's Bear Farms online at

http://www.wspa.org.uk/campaigns/bearfarming/bearbile1.html