Who is AAF? www.animalsasia.org Click here to view the Bear Breakfast video Not to be missed! (wmv format) www.animalsasia.org Animals Asia Foundation is a Hong Kong-based government-registered animal welfare charity founded by Jill Robinson MBE in 1998. It also has charitable status in UK, USA, Germany and Australia with donations being tax-deductible in these countries. It has additional offices in China. "The mission of the Animals Asia Foundation is to improve the lives of all animals in Asia, end cruelty and restore respect for animals Asia-wide." www.animalsasia.org www.moonbears.co.uk Sections In ANIMALS ASIA FOUNDATION LATEST NEWS MEDIA RELEASE 1 April 2008 AAF rescues 28 more Moon Bears, but it’s too late for three ************************************************************************* Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) has rescued 28 more Moon Bears, bringing to 248 the total number of bears saved from a life of torture on cruel bile farms in China. But one of the emaciated bears brought to AAF’s rescue centre in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, was dead on arrival, his body still warm, one was euthanized this morning and another died of his injuries this afternoon. AAF founder and CEO, Jill Robinson, said today that these bears had not died in vain. “Each bear that dies as a result of the barbaric conditions in which they were kept on the farms leaves behind a legacy of vital information, which will help to bring this industry down,” she said. Robinson, who has witnessed countless cases of severe animal cruelty over the years, said she was totally shocked by the condition of the 28 bears when they arrived at the sanctuary from a farm in Ziyang, Sichuan Province. “All were in impossibly small cages, all skeletal, wounded in various ways, and terrified of what would happen in this next stage of their lives,” she said. “Some are blind, some have shattered teeth and grotesquely ulcerated gums, some have shocking necrotic wounds – their flesh literally rotting down to the bones – and all out of their minds with fear. Most had open wounds in their abdomens from the free-drip method of bile-extraction, with some leaking bile, blood and pus,” Robinson said. In July 2000, AAF signed a landmark agreement with the Sichuan authorities to rescue 500 bears in the province, to work towards the elimination of bear farming in China and to promote the herbal alternatives to bear bile. The farmers are compensated financially so they can either retire or set up in another business. Their licences are taken away permanently. But many farmers claim that a new catheter-free, free-drip method of bile extraction – involving the creation of a permanent hole in the abdomen – is painless for the bears and that the industry, therefore, is now “humane”. Robinson, however, disputes this claim as flying in the face of common sense – “this is something that a 10-year-old would understand – a hole gouged into the abdomen and gall bladder of a sentient mammal is neither sanitary nor humane. The farmers and those who believe them should be ashamed.” She says the latest batch of tormented, disfigured bears provides further proof that the trade is as brutal as ever. Consumers in China, Japan and Korea have the highest demand for bear bile. Bear parts, bile powder and bile products are also found in Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Robinson, however, disputes this claim as flying in the face of common sense – “this is something that a 10-year-old would understand – a hole gouged into the abdomen and gall bladder of a sentient mammal is neither sanitary nor humane. The farmers and those who believe them should be ashamed.” She says the latest batch of tormented, disfigured bears provides further proof that the trade is as brutal as ever. Consumers in China, Japan and Korea have the highest demand for bear bile. Bear parts, bile powder and bile products are also found in Australia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the US and Canada. It is illegal for bear products to be exported from China, but the black market trade is thriving. The bile is used in traditional medicine for a range of complaints including fever, liver disease and sore eyes. Synthetic and herbal alternatives are readily available. Two years ago, the European Parliament in Brussels launched a campaign to urge the Chinese government to end bear farming by 2008. More than 7,000 bears are still trapped in farms throughout China. Some have been incarcerated for more than 20 years. Please also check Jill’s Blog (www.animalsasia.org/blog). Feel free to use any quotes from the blog. www.animalsasia.org www.moonbears.co.uk Bear Bile Farming Moon Bears have been killed for their gall bladders for 1,000s of years, but it is only in the past 20 years that countries in Asia (such as Korea, China and Vietnam) began to search for an alternative to taking an animal from the wild and killing it for the sake of a 3 ounce organ. Bears are the only mammals to produce significant amounts of the bile acid - ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), which has been used in Traditional Medicine for approximately 3,000 years. Whilst studies have shown it to be effective, today Chinese doctors agree that it can easily be replaced by herbal and synthetic alternatives which are cheaper, more effective and more readily available In countries across Asia, thousands of bears live a life of torture on bear farms, so that their bile can be extracted and used in Traditional Medicine to cure ailments ranging from headaches to haemorrhoids. Bears are confined in cages which vary from agonisingly tiny "crush" cages to larger pens, all of which cause terrible physical and mental suffering. But their torment does not end there.....the bears are subjected to painful methods of bile extraction which involve crude surgery to implant a steel catheter into the abdomen or the creation of a permanent hole in the abdomen known as the "free-dripping" technique. Many bears die as a result of the unsanitary surgery and those that survive spend the rest of their lives suffering in pain and deprivation. Whilst the methods of farming bears for their bile vary across Asia and are continually 'evolving', ALL of them are incredibly cruel and totally unacceptable. See how you can help by visiting www.animalsasia.org or click on the beautiful Moon Bear 'Beau' who we have sponsered through the David Shepherd Wildlife Trust for more information www.animalsasia.org www.moonbears.co.uk Dave Spikey PHEONIX NIGHTS Dave Spikey writes to our Director Julie Stock on behalf of AAF February 5th 2008 Dear Julie, I would like to begin by wishing you a very Happy New Year. 2008 should be a big year for AAF with our tenth anniversary on 08/08/08, coinciding with the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, but also, with any luck, the release of the first fortunate bears to AAF’s new sanctuary in Vietnam. In November, I was lucky enough to visit AAF’s work in both Vietnam and China with my wife, Kay. The visit was incredible and three words sum it up - emotional roller coaster! There were highs but many lows. I knew there would be but it was still too upsetting at times. We visited seven bile farms implausibly situated in the tourist paradise of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. I was shocked and appalled as we walked along row after row of caged bears, 78 of which have been earmarked by the Vietnamese Government for imminent release into the care of AAF, at the new rescue centre near Hanoi. Nothing can prepare you for the sight of the bears in their tiny cages. Their sad , desperate , tortured eyes pleading with you. The self mutilation, endless pacing and mental illness that the continued pain and suffering has caused. Many bears had terrible injuries and were kept without access to water. Some were in direct sunlight, despite the soaring temperatures. Others were missing paws having been caught in the wild, some had wounds on their faces from rubbing the bars of their cages in frustration and some had grotesquely bloated abdomens. Kay and I are both passionate animals-lovers and have each signed up to “adopt” a bear with AAF. We each picked out “our” bear while visiting the farms and later visited the sanctuary near Hanoi, where our lucky bears will live out their lives. We also visited the sanctuary in Chengdu and were present when Fuzzy bear was tragically found to be riddled with tumours on the liver during a routine health check and had to be euthanized. We shall not forget the emotion of her funeral with all the fabulous staff from the sanctuary in attendance. My abiding memory however will be a happy one. Seeing the bears free at last in Animals Asia’s fantastic sanctuary in Chengdu , feeding, playing , climbing their platforms , splashing in their pools, foraging for their hidden food and play fighting. We were also thrilled to attend an AAF charity event in a local bar – it was packed with young Chinese listening to bands and intent on raising money to help save China’s tortured bears, so the lesson is getting through and the future is looking brighter, thanks to AAF’s important education work. In my line of business, I get many requests from charities asking for their help, most of which I have sadly to decline. However, when I heard about AAF and the horrific treatment of Moon Bears, I knew this was one charity I simply had to support to help combat some of the worst form of suffering that I have ever seen. There are thousands of bears still suffering and I’m dedicated to help this wonderful charity carry on until all of them are free. It’s the Beijing Olympic Games this year and we must put pressure on the Chinese Government to outlaw this barbaric practice. So do please join me and make 2008 a really exceptional year for AAF. Your support can make all the difference and there are many ways to get involved – why not Befriend a Bear for a loved one, join one of AAF’s many sponsored walks around the country or, best of all, bring a party of friends and come and support Jill at one of the events during her UK roadshow in June. All the information is available on the AAF website – so don’t wait or put it off till tomorrow – join us today and help save these magnificent bears. With warmest wishes and sincere thanks for your support, Dave Spikey www.animalsasia.org www.moonbears.co.uk Goodbye gentle Willow Goodbye gentle Willow Friday, February 1, 2008, 02:55 PM Jill Robinson I still believe in miracles, but today the miracle went to someone else. As we held Willow’s paws, while Heather injected the fluid that would end his life, we wept. It hardly seems a week ago to the day when we were all so hopeful as this brave bear was into his third day of recovering from the massive tumour removed from his liver. But the warning bells sounded just two days ago as vets Heather and Lara alerted us all to the bright-yellow bile seeping from his surgical wound. Knowing how invasive bile is....seeing bears arriving from the farms suffering from the final impacts of peritonitis, we knew the situation was grim. For his part, Willow didn’t seem to know anything at all in this last week of his life except that he was thoroughly enjoying an array of fruity medicated shakes, ever-changing toys to play with and the endless loving care of his human friends just willing him to live. Now seeing Willow on the surgery table for another exploratory operation, the news was exactly as we’d feared. Although the surgical site where the liver tumour was removed had completely healed over, the tumours’ legacy had begun a cycle in his body that was now impossible to heal. As staff on site sadly trailed over to say their goodbyes, to hold his soft, warm paws one last time, our hospital staff prepared for the next few hours of recording his death. I'll leave it to Heather’s own words for summing up: “On post mortem, it showed that the bile leakage came from an inflamed area on the left side of Willow’s liver. We suspect that the tumour cells remaining in his liver had infiltrated his bile duct, blocking the drainage of bile from the liver into the intestines and causing a build-up of bile, which resulted in the rupture on the left-hand side.” Ironically, if the bile hadn’t seeped through his surgical wound, it would have continued evading his body, and would ultimately have led to the full-blown and very painful peritonitis, which is killing these bears on the farms. Last night I fed him two fruit gums and smiled as he took the first – a green one – and began investigating something obviously never enjoyed before. A few cautious, but interested, licks before setting the sweet down onto the back of his paw – plate-like – as he had a few sniffs and decided that, yes, it was quite safe to eat. The next – orange this time – saw exactly the same routine before he settled down to suck happily with all the quiet relish of a small and contented child. This afternoon as we say goodbye to Willow and send his spirit to the sky, in his grave among his favourite toys and food will be a single yellow “moon crescent” fruit gum for him to explore and enjoy as he starts his new journey and leaves a world where he was loved and respected. We also sent him off with a CD of his very own song, which was written and recorded by our wonderful Aussie supporter, Bernard Curry. You can click here to hear “Willow’s Song”. One person missing at his funeral was his sponsor – our own Media Manager, Angela in Hong Kong. Devastated by the death of her beloved bear, Angela has written some words in memory of her beautiful Willow. “I gave you a name that spoke of your beauty, your grace; of China and the West. I gave you a name that spoke of the unspeakable – your past, your sorrow, our shame. “You gave me so much more – a lesson, not yet learned. I think of you and feel the earnest brush of your tongue, so grateful for the fruit I fed you, so careful not to hurt my hand. You forgave the unforgivable and tried to teach me to do the same. So now I’ll wear your fur in a locket, a reminder of all you meant, and still mean. Weep no more gentle Willow. Take your place next to the rushing stream and let the good earth warm your soul. And sleep your deep, bear sleep. It’s going to be a long winter this year.” And now, with Willow’s friends lying lazily out in their enclosures on a sunny and bitterly cold day, where the sky is blue and the clouds sometimes froth into images of bears tumbling on their backs, we smile through our sadness as life goes on. Willow, our miracle bear Thursday, January 24, 2008, 07:16 PM Jill Robinson Yesterday's health check saw our faces drop as we turned Willow over onto his back on the surgery table. Not visible when he was joyfully tearing around in his enclosure the day before, now we were looking at all the evidence of liver cancer, as an ominous swelling appeared where his right liver lobe would be. Suspicion had been mounting in previous weeks as it appeared that Willow was losing weight and had a dull-looking coat. Nothing more indicated that anything was wrong – certainly not in his demeanour, which saw him bombing through the grass with his friends, enjoying giddy games of play and clearly unperturbed by and ignorant of the growth that was killing him inside. Lying there, small and vulnerable on the surgery table Willow was now in everyone's prayers. As vets Heather and Lara scrubbed up, the sad faces and still hush in the room said it all. A few minutes later, Heather had opened Willow's abdomen enough for us all to see what we had feared. A huge mass of cancer on his right liver lobe, literally draining the life blood of this beautiful bear away. With every other bear we've seen in similar circumstances there has been no option but to say a tearful goodbye and euthanasia, knowing that the cancer has been impossible cut out. Turning away with a breaking heart to call Willow's sponsor, suddenly I heard Heather saying this cancer might be possible to remove. For the next few minutes she and Lara went through every option until finally confirming that yes, they'd like to try. After all, what did we have to lose? We could gently put him to sleep there and then, or try – and if all failed, well, he would still be finally and so sadly euthanised there on the surgery table. For the next few hours I had nothing but deep, deep admiration for our team – vets and nurses together worked quietly, urgently, methodically on Willow, while the rest of us willed him to live. At last the tumour was out – to gasps of disbelief – as the weigh scales topped 4.3kgs. Like something out of a horror movie, with a life of its own, this cancer was another example of so many we've seen before and yet more proof – if any was needed – of just how and why bear farming is killing China's majestic species of Moon Bear. For Willow (pictured in the barbaric cage he was kept in for 10 years), the minutes tick by as he slowly recovers enough to take his medicated fruity shake, and fate takes over. This was major surgery on a sick and depleted bear and we are under no illusion that he is out of the woods yet. If praying saves lives, Willow will be back bouncing through that grass with his chums – a miracle bear who beat all the odds. But for now, we just wait. Keep updated with Willow's progress on Jill's Blog at: www.animalsasia.org www.animalsasia.org www.moonbears.co.uk US Doctors speak out: US doctors speak out Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 01:07 PM Jill Robinson In December 2007, full-page reports appeared over three days in Hong Kong's Chinese-language Wen Wei Po newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Government in Hong Kong. The reporter undertook a four-month undercover investigation with the help of Animals Asia, and wrote a series of features that exposed the true horrors of bear farming today. The articles were picked up by supporters all over the world, including by Eric H Busch MD, a member of the department of Anesthesiology at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, Louisiana, US and an expert in pain management. This was his letter to Wen Wei Po: Mr Zhang Guo Liang President Wen Wei Po Dear Mr. Zhang, I represent a group of concerned doctors here in the United States. We have read your recent articles on the bear bile industry. We have been aware of bear farming for many years and are, like many individuals, distressed by the suffering of these animals. As interested physicians, we would like to express our viewpoint on several issues. Perhaps this will be helpful to those who find the relationship of bear bile to pharmaceuticals confusing. By way of background, bile is a liquid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. This mixture of acids, cholesterol, water, and electrolytes aids in the digestion of food. The bile of all mammals contains a chemical called ursodeoxycholic acid or UDCA. UDCA is chemically very different from the other bile acids, which may account for its healing properties, and it has been recognized for at least forty years to be the therapeutic element of bear bile. For reasons we don’t fully understand, bears have more UDCA in their bile than other animals, which may explain the historical basis for bear bile use in traditional Chinese medicine. We have never seen any evidence that there are any other therapeutic constituents of bear bile. This may be due to the corrosive nature of bile, which destroys most other substances including proteins and amino acids. The effects of pharmaceutical UDCA on human systems have been studied extensively, resulting in the use of this drug worldwide for a number of specific diseases. These include primary biliary cirrhosis, sclerosing cholangitis, and gallstone disease. The potential application of UDCA in humans does not end there. Active research in the treatment of neurological disease, eye disease, and heart attack is promising. This UDCA, a medication taken by millions of patients, is not taken from bears. It is produced by pharmaceutical companies from bile collected in slaughterhouses. The end result is a pharmaceutical product which is of known potency and purity, widely available under various trade names. It is our view that this medication has made the use of bear bile unnecessary. That being said, we suppose that if individuals wish to consume bile for indications that do not require the therapeutic properties of UDCA, bile of many types is readily available. We find a number of flaws with bear farm products when they are considered as medicines. Farmed bears have a high rate of liver cancers, which are probably the result of chronic infection and inflammation of the gall bladder and liver. This, coupled with the collection techniques, results in bile that contains pus (white blood cells), debris, skin cells, and other impurities. We wonder if some of these elements are present in the compounds ingested by patients. In addition, it is difficult to know how much active drug is present in each sample. After all, each bear produces different amounts of UDCA at different times. We want to stress that we do not intend to criticize traditional Chinese medicine for its use of bear bile. Bear bile was once a necessary part of their methods and we, along with millions of patients worldwide, are grateful for the discovery of UDCA by traditional Chinese medicine. That being said, change and evolution are a part of all progress, and while Western medicine has learned and benefited from traditional medicine, traditional medicine can do the same by making bear bile a part of its past. Knowledge is power. UDCA is an important pharmaceutical which has the potential to improve human health. We hope that the governments of China and other Asian countries that now sanction bear farming will recognize this logic and act in the best interest of patients requiring UDCA and the bears that are part of this industry. By eliminating bear bile and publicly supporting the use of these widely available, clinically proven pharmaceuticals, these countries can actually enhance the health of those who need the benefits of UDCA while putting an end to bear farming. Finally, there will be those who will dispute what we have said. They will refer to special elements of bile that cannot be reproduced in any pharmaceutical. With that in mind, we wonder how the confinement, pain, debilitation, and untimely death of the farm bear affect the healing properties that are attributed to its bile. The chi in a bear subjected to these conditions must be weak indeed. The best health care involves the mixture of compassion, knowledge, skill, and those intangible elements that cannot be explained. We respectfully suggest that the use of bear bile is not only unnecessary, but also inconsistent with these ideals. We are hopeful that those who are receptive to change will find the facts and ideas presented herein helpful, and that our thoughts can spark a new debate on these important issues. Respectfully, Eric H. Busch M.D. New Orleans, Louisiana January 23, 2008 www.bearbilefacts.org www.animalsasia.org www.moonbears.co.uk Cannot find the product you are looking for? Please contact us by tel 0800 612 9688, fax 0800 612 9188, or email: info@dhshop.co.uk. We can usually source other products and we always welcome suggestions for additional products for our shop.

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