Olivia Newton-John speaks out against bear farming

[Guest guest]

31 July 2007

 

Olivia Newton-John makes TV plea for caged bears

 

Olivia Newton-John has recorded a TV public

service announcement calling for an end to bear

farming for the charity, Animals Asia Foundation.

The impassioned plea is now being broadcast

throughout Asia on channels including National Geographic Wild and Star World.

 

On a recent whirlwind concert tour of Asia,

Newton-John took time out of her hectic schedule

to record the session with acclaimed filmmaker

Libby Halliday, whose poignant documentary, “Moon

Bears: Journey to Freedom”, was released recently on Animal Planet.

 

Animals Asia Founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE,

said she was thrilled that the Australian star

had given her support to the campaign. “I know

how busy Olivia is, so the fact that she has made

time to promote our work is all the more special.

And I should point out that Olivia didn’t just

agree to help out – she offered.”

 

Newton-John, a long-time supporter of Animals

Asia, said she had no hesitation in adding her

voice to the campaign to end bear bile farming.

“It is simply heartbreaking that these poor bears

are put through such unnecessary torture. Some of

them are kept in tiny cages for up to quarter of

a century. This is cruelty beyond belief. It is

so important that people understand that there

are plenty of effective and affordable alternatives to bear bile,” she said.

 

“I have a great deal of admiration for Jill and

the Animals Asia team. They have a very tough

job, but they are making real progress, because

their approach is non-confrontational and they

work with the local authorities, not against them.”

 

About Animals Asia’s Moon Bear Rescue

 

Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) is a Hong

Kong-headquartered charity dedicated to ending

cruelty and restoring respect for animals across

Asia. Working with local authorities and

communities, the foundation runs a number of

projects aimed at finding long-term solutions to

problems of animal cruelty, including the rescue

of Moon Bears from cruel bile farms in China and Vietnam.

 

AAF’s China Moon Bear Rescue project involves

rescuing 500 suffering and endangered Asiatic

black bears from cruel bile farms and bringing

them to its sanctuary in Chengdu, Sichuan

province. The bears (known as Moon Bears because

of the golden crescents on their chests) can

spend up to 25 years in coffin-sized cages where

they are milked daily for their bile, often

through crude, filthy catheters. They are also

milked through permanently open holes in their

abdomens. This is the so-called “humane”

free-dripping technique. It is the only permitted

method of bile extraction in China, but still

causes constant pain and the slow death of the

bears. The bile is used in traditional Chinese

medicine, even though cheap and effective herbal

and synthetic alternatives are readily available.

 

Vietnam’s farmed Moon Bears are next on Animals

Asia’s help-list. AAF’s eight long years of

negotiations with the Vietnamese government are

finally bearing fruit. In 2005, after years of

lobbying from both local and international NGOs,

the authorities promised to phase out bear bile

farming and in 2006 the foundation signed an

agreement with the government to rescue 200 bears

in Hanoi. Bear farming has been technically illegal in Vietnam since 1992.

 

Now a sanctuary is taking shape in a beautiful

valley adjoining the stunning Tam Dao National

Park near Hanoi. The rescue centre will

eventually house 200 bears and will be the focus

of the foundation’s campaign to end bear farming,

with an education centre, viewing area and herb garden for visitors.