YOU ARE INVITED to meet Jill Robinson MBE, Founder & CEO Animals Asia Foundation in town to discuss The China Bear Rescue

[Guest guest]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARCH 10, 2004

 

 

 

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OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

AN EVENING WITH

JILL ROBINSON MBE, FOUNDER & CEO OF ANIMALS ASIA FOUNDATION

 

Putting an End to Un-Bearable Cruelty in Asia

www.animalsasia.org

 

Sometimes we receive a message in life that is hard to ignore.

For Jill Robinson, that message came in 1993 when she walked onto a bear farm in China for the very first time.

 

 

 

Jill Robinson, MBE, founder of Animals Asia Foundation will be arriving in the USA on Saturday, March 28th for a series of presentations to raise much needed funds for the completion of the Moon Bear Rescue Center, now home to nearly 120 bears liberated from the barbaric practice of bear bile farming in China. It has been 11 years since Jill stumbled onto a bear farm and saw magnificent Moon bears being kept in cages so small they couldn’t stand up or turn around. She saw crude catheters inserted into their abdomens draining their gall bladders of bile for use in traditional medicine. Seven years later, following Jill’s tireless work in building relationships and undertaking culturally sensitive negotiations, China took the lead in ending this terrible and unnecessary practice and announced a landmark agreement which would free 500 endangered moon bears from a lifetime of captivity and suffering on bear bile farms across China. Jill’s work in animal welfare has already been recognized by the Queen who awarded Jill with a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1998. Her goal now is to end bear farming by the Beijing Olympics in 2008 giving freedom to another 7,000 bears remaining in 247 bear bile farms across China. Animals Asia is the only group working “on the ground” to rescue these bears and is constructing a Rescue Center, Sanctuary and Education Village in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The first stage of the Sanctuary was opened in December 2002. During Jill’s visit to the USA she will speak at events in Boston, San Francisco, San Rafael and San Diego. In San Francisco and San Rafael Jill will be speaking at the following venues:

 

 

Tuesday, March 30th, 2004

Fort Mason Center

Building C, Room 370

San Francisco, CA 94123

 

Doors and Welcome 5:30PM

Jill Robinson Presentation 6:00PM

Discussion and Q & A to follow

 

This evening is kindly being co-sponsored by The Fund For Animals

415.474.4020 www.fundforanimals.org

 

Wednesday, March 31st, 2004

First United Methodist Church of San Rafael

9 Ross Valley Drive @ Greenfield Avenue

Central San Rafael Exit off the101

San Rafael, CA 94901

 

Doors and Welcome 6:00PM

Jill Robinson Presentation 6:30PM

Discussion and Q & A to follow

 

This evening is endorsed by the Marin Peace & Justice Coalition

www.mpjc.org

 

Cost: Free.

Intended Audience: This is a public screening for ages 15 and older.

 

 

 

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:

Andi Mowrer

Animals Asia Representative

888.420.BEAR voice

amowrer

 

For further information regarding the San Francisco and San Rafael events please contact:

Kate Danaher

415.459.1149 voice

katedanaher

 

Transparencies and broadcast quality footage of the bears before and after rescue are available.

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

JILL ROBINSON BIO

Born in the UK, Jill Robinson arrived in Hong Kong in 1985 and spent the next 12 years working in Asia as a Consultant for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

 

In 1991 Jill founded " Dr. Dog " , the first animal therapy program in Hong Kong, which rapidly expanded across Asia and is now also operating in China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan and India. Over 300 “canine consultants” are placing therapeutic footprints in hospitals and homes for the blind, elderly, deaf and disabled and bringing the gift of unconditional love to needy people in the community.

 

In 1998 Jill founded the Animals Asia Foundation and focused on the practice of bear farming - an industry she first discovered in 1993 which exposed the plight of endangered Asiatic black bears cruelly farmed, and milked, for their bile.

 

During the following years, Jill and the Animals Asia team worked with various government and non-government organizations in examining the practice of bear farming and exploring realistic paths towards ending the practice altogether.

 

Today, the China Bear Rescue has seen the rescue of over 100 bears in China and continues in its goal of ending the practice of bear farming by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

 

Jill is a member of the Hong Kong government Animal Welfare Advisory Group and on the Board of the Ocean Park Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation. In 1995, Jill was presented with the Readers Digest Hero for Today award, in June 1998 she was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth in the Birthday Honors List, in recognition of her services to animal welfare in Asia and in 2002, she received the Genesis Award, the only major media and arts award concerning animal issue.

 

She has extensive experience with the media and has been interviewed by CNN, GMTV (UK), UK Channel 5 “Open House with Gloria Hunniford”, SkyNews, BBC News and “Woman’s Hour”. The China Bear Rescue was the subject of a “Really Wild Show Special” screening in January 2003.

 

HISTORY OF THE CHINA BEAR RESCUE

Following Jill Robinson’s discovery of bears existing in intolerable conditions on a farm in China images of these beautiful bears unable to move in tiny wire cages, were projected around the world by international print and television media. Dirty infected catheters could clearly be seen protruding from the bears' abdomen, through which bile was being extracted for use in Traditional Oriental Medicine.

 

In 1995, the Guangdong Ministry of Forestry Department closed down the original farm, which Jill had exposed. Projected numbers of farmed bears were to reach 40,000 by the year 2000. But following Jill’s intervention it was agreed to reduce the number of farmed bears from the then 10,000 to 7,000. Through 1997 and 1998, AAF team members progressed intensive negotiations with the Chinese authorities and continued to promote the herbal alternatives to bear bile in Traditional Oriental Medicine.

 

In 1999, AAF investigators accepted an invitation from Chinese authorities in Beijing to accompany them to 11 Bear Farms in Sichuan Province. Negotiations commenced in relation to a new bear farming agreement and a major bear rescue.

 

In June 2000, an unprecedented agreement was signed in Beijing, Sichuan and Hong Kong between Chinese officials and AAF to cooperate on a major rescue of 500 bears in Sichuan Province with the long-term goal of ending bear farming.

 

The first phase of a purpose built sanctuary was opened in December 2002 and is now home to 117 bears. A total of 139have been rescued but sadly, some have died or have been euthanised as a result of peritonitis, septicaemia or tumors they would have been living with for many painful years.

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

What is bear bile farming?

* There are more than 7,000 bears imprisoned in cages on 212 farms across China, so that bile can be milked from their gall bladders.

 

* Bile is a liquid that the bear's liver produces helping the bear to digest fat in the diet. Catheters are surgically implanted into the bear's gall bladder, which is next to the liver. Through these metal tubes, the bile is drained from the gall bladder up to twice a day. A new “free dripping” method was recently introduced, originally thought to be more humane, this method leaves a permanent gaping infected hole in the bears abdomen. Bears are often pinned to the bottom of their cages for 24 hours a day.

 

* The procedure to insert these tubes into the bear's body is very unhygienic and as a result the bears often develop severe infections. Many of the bears on farms are dying agonising deaths as a result of both old and new methods of bile extraction.

 

* The bears surviving the surgery spend the rest of their lives suffering in tiny cages. The bears are unable to move and stretch. Boredom often forces them to bite the bars of the cages and bang their heads against the bars – causing painfully broken teeth and terrible head wounds.

 

* Bears on farms live in this horrific condition in constant pain, for up to 22 years

 

What is the bile used for?

* For more than 3,000 years the bile from Moon Bears has been used in Traditional Oriental Medicine. It is now also found in products with no medicinal value e.g. shampoos, skin cream and soda.

 

* The active ingredient in bear bile, UDCA (Ursodeoxycholic acid), is currently being tested in clinical studies to treat chronic hepatitis C and cancer. It may also be beneficial in the treatment of Parksinson’s, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

 

Are there alternatives?

* There are at least 54 herbal alternatives to bear bile and an abundance of the cheaper synthetic UDCA (Ursodeoxycholic acid – the active ingredient) on the market.

 

What type of bear is a “Moon Bear”?

* Also known as the Asiatic Black Bear or Tibetan Moon Bear (Ursus Selenarctos Thibetanus),it is one of the 8 bear species in the world and is listed under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as Appendix 1 – the most critical category of endangerment.

 

* There are as few as 16,000 Moon Bears left in the wild in China.

* The “Moon Bear” or is found in Southern Asia and is so called because of the V-shaped patch of cream or yellow coloured fur on their chest in the shape of a moon.

* In the wild, Moon Bears can live up to 30 years. On bear farms, many die at less than half that age, between 10 to 12 years.

 

What is the agreement between AAF and the Chinese Government?

The agreement, sanctioned by the Central Government Department of Wildlife Administration, announced three major goals:

 

* To close the worst farms in Sichuan and build a sanctuary for 500 bears.

* To expand this initiative to other provinces in China.

* To end bear farming and provide care and refuge for the remaining number of bears.

 

What happens to the bears once they are rescued?

Currently, all the bears are taken to the Moon Bear Rescue Sanctuary at Chengdu where they are cut out of their cages and treated by AAF’s Veterinary team. The bears undergo surgery to remove their damaged gall bladders, receive life saving antibiotics, proper nutrition and tender loving care. The sanctuary is set on 26 acres and can hold a total of 120 bears in the forest zones and dens and a further 40-50 recovering bears in the original holding dens and physio/recreation areas.

 

What will happen when the sanctuary is full?

AAF is seeking a new site for the second sanctuary, one that is at least 100 acres, big enough to hold a further 400 bears.

 

What other programmes does AAF run?

* AAF began the first animal therapy programme in Hong Kong. Called “Dr Dog” it now also operates in China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan and India with more than 300 volunteer dog doctors currently visiting hospitals, homes for the elderly, disabled centres and orphanages.

 

* AAF is also spearheading the fight against the trade in endangered species parts through their Detective Dog, Simba. In just two years Simba – the first CITES substance dog sniffer dog in Asia – has made over 80 finds of illegal animal contraband at Incheon International Airport in South Korea.

 

* “Friends…. or Food” addresses the issue of the eating of cats and dogs in countries across Asia. Dogs have been our companions for more than 14,000 years and provide valuable services such as search and rescue dogs, guide dogs and animal therapists. For these reasons and many more, AAF believes that they should remain our friends, not our food.

 

* Project Asia directly responds to unusually tragic circumstances of animal exploitation and cruelty in Asia by alleviating the suffering of individual animals whilst continuing to work with governments and local communities to develop and support practical programmes which benefit all animals across Asia.

 

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