(CN) Humane Tiger Farms in China - Jill Robinson's letter to New York Times

[Guest guest]

In a country where animal welfare laws are entirely absent and where

existing wildlife farms (which are sanctioned and considered legal)

are mired in appalling welfare conditions and rampant illegal

practices, it is undeniably short sighted to promote tiger farms as

the 'cure all' that will accelerate and solve in-situ conservation of

the species in the wild.

 

Whilst veterinary practices are broadening in scope and expertise in

China, it remains a fact (even by Chinese vets' own admission) that

animal husbandry, clinical and surgical expertise, and even basic

veterinary practices are at least 30 years behind the West. At a time

when hundreds of thousands of dogs are being cruelly bludgeoned to

death in the streets to solve the problems of rabies; when animal

anaesthesia is still largely practiced using drugs now redundant in

the West; and where the import of reliable drugs and anaesthetics

remains difficult at best and impossible at worst, it seems a little

incongruous, if not premature, to be sanctioning the so-called

'humane' rearing and slaughter of tigers on the farms.

 

Animals Asia team members - including professional veterinarians -

have been studying, researching and condemning bear farms almost

since they were first proclaimed as the saviour of the species in the

wild. Since the early 1990's we have repeatedly found that the

regulations which the Government promote as hygienic, humane and

conservation-based, actually fail to meet even the most basic

international requirements - and fail the animals themselves who

suffer a tortured, miserable existence at the hands of people who

cleverly disguise the reality of the facilities they run.

 

The evidence we have gathered through investigations of over 30 bear

farms in China and over 200 surgeries performed on rescued bears;

together with interviews with bear farm owners themselves, confirms

that the farmers are deliberately flouting current welfare

regulations on these farms at all levels. They are also paying local

villagers in rural areas to trap cubs to supplement the trade.

Despite the existence of laws authorising domestic trade only, there

is substantial evidence that medicines and parts from this CITES

Appendix I endangered species are finding their way into illegal

markets across the world.

 

I cannot imagine therefore, why people with the same vested interests

in promoting tiger farms in China would act any differently to those

who farm the bears.

 

My own visits to tiger farms - both overt and covert - have also

proven that what " official " guests and visitors are shown and told is

far removed from the actual practices of a cruel and illegal trade

which is allowed to continue unabated. Vendors desperate for sales

actively promote the purchase and sale of tiger parts and even advise

on ways to circumvent customs regulations in virtually any country in

the world to eager consumers who couldn't give a damn about domestic

or international laws.

 

Bear farmers are clearly not meeting dismal domestic welfare and

conservation standards, let alone internationally accepted levels.

Neither can those who run current tiger " breeding " facilities be

prevented from engaging in the illicit sale of tiger bones and other

parts. So why on earth should we be so naive and complacent to accept

that a new breed of tiger farms, run by the very same people who are

at the forefront of these cruel and illegal practices, could save the

tiger from its current path of doom.

 

Jill Robinson MBE

Founder & CEO

Animals Asia Foundation

 

ANIMALS ASIA HAS A BRAND NEW WEBSITE!

Find out more about the " China Bear Rescue " and " Friends.....or Food "

http://www.animalsasia.org