(CN) FW: 13 more bears arrive 'home'

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Posted on: 08 February, 2009 9:23 AM

13 more bears arrive 'home'

 

The air was full of anticipation and excitement – it always is when new bears

arrive. First you feel elated that animals that have been slowly wasting away in

cages, tortured by the extractors of their bile, will soon be released from

their suffering. And then you feel sick to your stomach, knowing that the odds

will be against some of them and they will arrive with us too late.

 

And so it was yesterday as the truck carrying our latest group of 13 caged bears

rolled in at 3pm. Sometimes you hear them “hooting†in misery or huffing

with rage, but this group was completely silent – with only their suspicious,

terrified eyes indicating the true extent of their fear.

 

Boris, Howard and our bear team were, as ever, superb. Bears and cages weighing

anything over 300kgs and piled on top of each other were, to those who didn’t

know better, effortlessly lowered down on to the ramp. I couldn’t help

thinking how their bodies would ache the next day (and even asked Rocky the next

morning how he was, only to be met with “no pa†– no problem).

 

As the offloading continued into the afternoon, each bear was carefully placed

on the ramp so that Senior Vet Heather and I could start assessing their

physical and mental health. Nurses Wendy, Hayley, Caroline and Helena began a

rotation of taking down all the notes and following “their†bears into the

quarantine area, while Vets Leanne and Faithe continued assessments and added to

the notes.

 

Senior Bear Manager Nic cautiously numbered the cages with bright-yellow paint,

while volunteers Russell and Dan fed fruit onto skewers “kebab-style†so

that we could divert the bears and keep their heads, teeth and claws away from

where the boys were securing the rusty cages with wire.

 

Once settled in Quarantine, Bear Managers Donata and Belinda made sure that the

bears had more fruit, together with the all-important straw laid on top of the

cages, which they quickly realised could easily be pulled through and made into

nice comfy beds. For the first time in years the bears had something to cushion

their sore bones from unrelenting cage bars.

 

Today the health checks began in earnest. Four bears anaesthetised, abdomens

shaved and “observed†with ultrasound - looking for our enemy liver cancer,

which is killing the bears in percentages just too high to be coincidence. Drips

set up and fluid given, teeth checked, blood and urine taken for analysis, ears

cleaned, nails clipped, limbs manipulated and assessed, and a quick brush and

tidy up for those with matted fur before being transferred into more roomy

recovery cages, lined with straw, and prioritised for surgery over the coming

days and weeks.

 

Shocking evidence of the brutality of bear farming came to light straight away

– with three of the bears exposing “free-drip†holes of bile extraction in

their abdomens leaking bile. Two of the bears had two of these extraction sites

on their abdomens – victims of crude surgery conversion on the farms from

catheters to the barbaric “free-drip†open-hole fistulas. One of the bears

had all four canine teeth deliberately cut back, exposing pulp and nerves and

others had broken and worn teeth from frantic bar-biting. But all four will

sleep better tonight with room to stretch, and hunger pangs gone.

 

I can’t end this first blog on our new rescue without paying tribute to some

of our other staff yesterday. Christie, Rainbow, Juanita, Angela, and Mark, who

ran ragged getting the story and pictures over to worldwide media, and our Hong

Kong and country offices, while Tamara assisted our VIP guest Harriet Tung and

organised her interviews with the film crews.

 

Irene was also there representing our new Italian office – a kind and generous

team in Genoa entirely sponsoring all the running costs so that every penny goes

to the bears.

 

Finally, Toby our General Manager liaised with the Government officials of

Sichuan Forestry who had confiscated the bears into our care, and generally kept

the house in order, making sure that any small problems didn’t develop into

big ones!

 

Why am I telling you about all these people in this blog? Because I am so, so

proud of them all. They and all the other departments working behind the scenes

are the backbone of this foundation and the heart of our campaign and goal to

bring bear farming to its knees.

 

These are the people whose faces dropped when the very first bear was

anaesthetised last night and we saw his swollen abdomen and waterlogged lungs

fighting to combat liver disease, with no hope of winning. These are the people

who cried when Heather gently put “Shui†(Water) to sleep and then grieved

at his cremation today; sadly saying goodbye to a bear they hardly knew. Here is

a photo of gentle Shui:

 

 

 

As the flames, smoke and Shui’s spirit rose silently into the sky – the

lines of the poem “Please look upon the others and give them promise of hope

soon – and tell them to be patient and proudly wear the moon†gave comfort

and strength to a group of people here in Chengdu – and to our team across the

world – who proudly honour the bears.

 

More soon as we free the bears from their tortuous crush cages, and update you

on the words and support of Harriet Tung.

 

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