(CN) Swine flu grounds Jill Robinson at China bear sanctuary

[Guest guest]

*MEDIA RELEASE*

 

*2 July 2009 *

 

*Swine flu grounds Jill Robinson at China bear sanctuary*

 

*Founder of Animals Asia calls for action on animal-related human-health

issues*

 

Animals Asia's founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE, has been grounded at

her organisation's Chengdu moon bear sanctuary after a passenger on her

flight from Hong Kong to Chengdu on Tuesday morning tested positive for

swine flu.

 

Health officials arrived at Animals Asia's Moon Bear Rescue Centre in

Chengdu, Sichuan Province shortly before 3am yesterday morning

(Wednesday) to tell Ms Robinson that the male passenger sitting directly

behind her on Dragonair flight KA820 had been confirmed as carrying the

H1N1 virus -- and that she should stay quarantined for seven days.

 

Ms Robinson said today (Thursday): " There's a certain irony in this.

Animals Asia is working to close down disease-ridden live-animal markets

and bear bile farms, with all their associated human-health risks, and

here I am caught up in the swine flu pandemic, which some reports

suggest originated on a pig farm.

 

Regarding the Chinese authorities' handling of the current situation, Ms

Robinson had nothing but praise. " It's a bit frustrating being

quarantined, especially as I'm fighting fit and my temperature's a very

normal 36.6. But the authorities are taking the right precautions and

putting the safety of their citizens first, " she said.

 

" What I don't understand is why the government doesn't also act in

regard to other human health risks associated with animals -- for

instance, the consumption of diseased cats and dogs from filthy markets,

and the consumption of putrid bile taken from chronically ill bears. We

have been warning the Chinese authorities about these issues for years,

and even have the backing of traditional Chinese medicine doctors and

medical consultants in China and Vietnam, " Ms Robinson said.

 

She said Dr Wang Sheng Xian, a Chengdu pathologist, had raised serious

concerns about the consumption of bear bile, which is contaminated with

pus, blood, faeces and urine -- and often the bears have liver cancer.

" Animals Asia has passed on Dr Wang's concerns and the findings of our

own vet team to the relevant government departments, but still nothing

is being done to stop the trade. The health authorities really have to

ask themselves what such filthy bile and filthy cat and dog meat is

doing to the health of the people that consume it.

 

" At the very least, they should warn people not to consume bear bile and

not to eat dogs and cats. This is something they could do straight away.

It would cost nothing, but could save many lives and certainly would

save many millions of dollars in health costs. "

 

Toby Zhang, Animals Asia's Director of External Affairs China, said

Jill's quarantine brought home the urgent need for the government to

tackle other animal-related health issues. " These are time bombs just

waiting to go off, " Mr Zhang said. " Guangzhou's notorious live-animal

markets are breeding grounds for disease, as are dog-meat breeding

facilities, where parvovirus, canine distemper, leptospirosis and rabies

can spread so easily.

 

" Cats arrive at market infested with fleas and ringworm, with mucous weeping

from their eyes and noses and their fur encrusted in faeces and hair falling

out. Both cats and dogs are transported in trucks to markets in southern China,

often for four or five days, crammed together in tiny cages. "

 

Mr Zhang said these animals were forced to lie in their own and others' waste

and vomit, with other sick -- sometimes dead -- animals. Many have infected,

weeping sores from 'cage rage' -- starving and dying of thirst, the animals lash

out at each other. " I just don't understand why the government allows this

trade, " Mr Zhang said.

 

" On New Year's Day, our Chengdu vet team offered to help deal with 149 dogs

that had been confiscated by officials from a meat trader after complaints from

local people. The condition of the dogs was absolutely appalling, with many

suffering terribly from parvovirus, distemper and kennel cough. We tried our

best to save them all, but in the end 102 were put to sleep. It is meat from

such chronically diseased dogs (and cats) that is being served up at dinner

tables and restaurants around China. "

 

Mr Zhang said the June dog cull in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province, which has seen up

to 40,000 dogs brutally beaten to death in reaction to 12 human cases of

rabies, was another case in point. " Animals Asia and other organisations,

including the World Health Organisation, have repeatedly advised the

authorities that the only way to contain stray-dog populations is to de-sex and

vaccinate against rabies, " Mr Zhang said. " But still they allow local officials

to implement knee-jerk dog culls, which do nothing to stop the spread of rabies,

because other -- possibly rabid -- dogs will simply move into the area left

vacant by the cull and breed.

 

" This is not just an animal-welfare issue -- it's a human-health issue

as well. As a Chinese citizen, I feel proud that the authorities are

handling the swine flu issue so efficiently and professionally, but I'm

sad that they continue to turn a blind eye to -- or even condone --

animal-husbandry practices that are creating obvious health risks. It's

time to get serious about these issues before more people die, " Mr Zhang

said.

 

Sichuan health officials will visit Ms Robinson in her studio flat at

the bear sanctuary twice a day to check her temperature and that she

remains virus-free. " I've been told that after four days, they will

review the situation, " she said. " I'm not sure what that means, but I'm

hoping I'll be able to walk around the sanctuary wearing a mask for the

rest of the quarantine period. " F

 

*For more information, please contact:*

 

*Jill Robinson MBE, Founder & CEO, Animals Asia Foundation:

jrobinson

<http://imsm022.netvigator.com/agent/MobNewMsg?to=jrobinson (AT) animalsasia (DOT) org>;*

 

*+ (852) 9095-8405. *

 

*Toby Zhang, Animals Asia's Director of External Affairs China:

tzhang <tzhang; + (86)

1388-1963-445 *

 

*Angela Leary, Animals Asia Media Manager: aleary

<aleary; + (852) 9042-7740.*

 

*

About the Moon Bear Rescue, China*

 

Animals Asia's *Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu, Sichuan Province is

the focus of our work to end bear farming in China. The sanctuary, which

is a collaborative effort of the Animals Asia team, two levels of

government and, importantly, our wonderful supporters, has taken 260

suffering and endangered bears into its care.*

 

**Asiatic black *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. The process is agonising. The bears 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.

In fact, the Chinese pharmacopoeia lists more than 50 alternatives to

bear bile.**

 

The ambitious bear rescue project was hatched in 1993 when Animals Asia

Founder and CEO Jill Robinson investigated a bear bile farm in China.

Jill had been working in animal welfare in Asia for many years, but

nothing had prepared her for the horror of that farm. " It was a torture

chamber, a hell-hole for animals. They literally couldn't move, they

couldn't stand up, they couldn't turn around, " she says. She made a

promise to the bears that day: she would devote her life to freeing them

from their torture and would not stop until every last bear farm had

closed down.

 

In July 2000, after years of negotiating and lobbying, Jill signed a

landmark agreement with the Chinese authorities to rescue 500 moon bears

and work towards ending the barbaric practice of bear bile farming. The

partners would also work to promote herbal alternatives to bear bile.

 

Under the agreement, the farmers are compensated financially so they can

either retire or set up in another business. Their licences are taken

away permanently. Officially, 7,000 bears are still trapped in farms

throughout China, but Animals Asia suspects the figure is as high as

10,000.

 

**The rescued bears leave the farms in an appalling state, many

suffering from crippling ailments, such as arthritis, peritonitis,

weeping ulcers and ingrown claws. They need surgery to remove their

damaged gall bladders, many have broken teeth from years of biting the

bars of their cages, a third are missing limbs and all are in a state of

severe psychological trauma. Remarkably though, nearly all of these

intelligent, forgiving bears are able to put the past behind them,

learning to walk, run, swim, climb and interact with the other rescued

bears.

 

The Chengdu sanctuary, with monthly overheads of more than US$100,000,

requires a constant stream of income. The foundation employs more than

160 local on-site staff -- bear managers, maintenance workers, drivers

and horticulturalists, as well as public relations and administrative

staff. It also has a highly skilled veterinary team. Central to the

sanctuary is the Education Village -- a first for China -- where

visitors learn about Animals Asia's message that animals have the right

to live free from exploitation and cruelty. Thousands of schoolchildren

visit the centre each year. The costs of running the operation will grow

as more bears are sav

 

--

* Angela Leary * Media Manager Animals Asia Foundation Tel: + (852) 2791

2225 Fax: + (852) 2791 2320 Website: http://www.animalsasia.org/ Keep up

to date with our recent rescue of 13 more bears from bile farms in

China. Think before you print