FW: Animals Asia - 28 tortured bears arrive at our China sanctuary!

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Tuesday, April 01, 2008 12:30 PM

john

Animals Asia - 28 tortured bears arrive at our China sanctuary!

 

 

 

Dear John,

 

Just a quick email to update you on the news that many of you have patiently

been waiting for. Madam Xiong (literally Madam " Bear " !) of the Sichuan

Forestry Department has kept her promise of closing a farm before the end of

March - and, in the final hours of this month, our newly rescued bears are

here! At 8pm tonight (Monday, China time), three trucks carrying 28

terrified, emaciated, but soon-to-be-free Moon Bears drove through the gates

of our sanctuary in Chengdu, bringing our new family members " home " .

 

The next few days and weeks are going to be frantically busy as our

wonderful team of vets, nurses, bear managers and workers get to grips with

pioritising those bears in most urgent need of medical attention and begin

their magic of repairing damaged bodies and minds. As always, this is a time

of emotional highs and lows as we cry inside for animals that have spent

decades in cages on barbaric farms, but put tears and anger behind as we

become the professionals the bears need us to be.

 

Our first priority has been to ensure the safety of our staff by securing

the rusty, dilapidated cages of these tortured, understandably aggressive

bears, before offering them simple pleasures which they have never

experienced on the farms. Free access to clean water for the first time in

their lives, fruit piled high and tasty medicated shakes which will start

them on the healing process - preparing for emergency health checks and

major surgeries so necessary to get them through. Even straw placed on the

roof of their cruel crush cages will see them quickly pulling it through,

making nests on unrelenting bars which have hurt and scarred their bone-thin

bodies for years.

 

It is the best and worst of times for everyone here in Chengdu - not least

the bears - and, in between this new rescue, we want to thank you for having

the faith to stay with us and for now being a profound part of this latest

good news. Please come back and visit my blog where you'll see updates and

photos whenever there's time over this coming week. Take a quick break and

visit (www.animalsasia.org/blog/) so that you can join the bears as,

together, we start the first tentative steps towards freedom.

 

 

Finally, please bear with us (excuse the pun) as we try to balance caring

for the bears and keeping you updated. I know you'll have questions, but we

may not be able to respond to you all individually as we start working round

the clock at the sanctuary. Please keep checking the blog and I'll try to

answer them as much as possible there.

 

These bears may not be " smiling " like Jasper and friends just yet - but

experience tells us that most will pull through ..with a little luck, and

time, on their side.

 

Bear hugs,

 

Jill

 

 

Jill Robinson MBE

Founder & CEO

Animals Asia Foundation, Hong Kong

 

 

 

 

 

Animals Asia Foundation is not affiliated with or endorsed or sponsored by

the International Olympic Committee, any of its National Olympic Committees

or the Organising Committee for Beijing 2008.

 

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