Endless Despair for China's Farmed Bears

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Honorable Officials of the People’s Republic of China:

I thank the China Wildlife Conservation Association and Central Government in Beijing for forging a pact with Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) in 2000 to release 500 bears from Sichuan Province farms. I understand officials also vowed to phase-out bear bile farming in this agreement.

However, I am distressed to know over 7,000 Asiatic Black (moon) Bears are warehoused on some 247 farms, according to the last tally in 1999. While the government has disbanded more than 30 farms and granted no new licenses since 1994, there are no laws to officially shut down the farms and ensure the rehabilitation of thousands of suffering bears.

To date, AAF’s Moon Bear Rescue Centre cares for 185 rescued bears. I urge you to honor your commitment to free 500 bears and to terminate all bear farms. Please make this a priority in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. I hope you will not let the cruel bile milking industry tarnish China’s integrity during the internationally viewed Olympic Games.

When bears arrive at AAF’s Centre, veterinarians have to remove grimy 7-inch catheters implanted in their gallbladders. They must clean raw abscesses, excise pounds of fibrotic tissue, and repair huge abdominal hernias. Some bears with latex catheters were caged for about 20 years. Others with full metal jackets encasing their torsos suffer chronic infection, hair loss, and excruciating pain throughout their bodies.

Many farmers flatten bears in “crush cages” to facilitate milking, but neglect to lift the metal brackets when finished. AAF has received bears smashed under rusted crushes for years.

China’s bear farmers have no veterinary background, yet they perform “surgeries” that mutilate animals. For the current free-dripping method, touted as more humane, farmers must drive a tube through a membrane over a hole cut into the bear’s abdomen. This causes infection and bile leakage into the bear’s belly. The death rate remains high on modern farms.

People around the world implore the Chinese government to advocate use of herbal or synthetic alternatives in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Contemporary practitioners maintain that 75 substitutes possess the active ingredient in bear bile.

Again, I appreciate strides to diminish bear farming, but encourage you to enact enforceable legislation to end it completely. Thank you for considering my viewpoint in this serious matter.

Respectfully,