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 AAF team, two levels of government and, importantly, our wonderful supporters, has to date taken more than 245 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 pharmacopaeia lists more than 50 alternatives to bear bile. Image right: a picture worth one thousand words
 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 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 AAF suspects the figure is as high as 10,000.
Image left: Heather and Crystal enjoy the jungle gym
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. Image above right: Jill with Franzi
The Chengdu sanctuary, with monthly overheads averaging US$100,000, requires a constant stream of income. The foundation employs more than 140 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 saved. Image left: Puffy Beau
Moon Bear Rescue – Vietnam
 While bear farming has been illegal in Vietnam since 1992, the practice is still widespread and around 4,000 bears remain trapped on bile farms.
Animals Asia has been negotiating with the Vietnamese Government on the issue since 1999. In 2005, after years of lobbying by AAF as well as other international and local NGOs, the authorities promised to act to phase out bear bile farming and in 2006, Animals Asia signed an agreement with the government to rescue 200 bears.
Our Vietnam Moon Bear Rescue Centre, nestled in a beautiful valley in the buffer zone of the stunning Tam Dao National Park, 70km north of Hanoi, will eventually be home to 200 “ambassador” bears that have suffered for years at the hands of bile farmers. Image right: Frodo
Project Asia
 Project Asia is an umbrella campaign that looks at a range of issues affecting animal welfare throughout Asia. The causes we have taken on in the past year or so are many and varied, including: emergency relief for animals affected by the Asian tsunami; part-funding of a project to survey the number of Moon Bears in the wild in Sichuan province, China; a campaign to stop the brutal slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan; and a campaign to end a terrible ritual involving the force-feeding of pigs in Taiwan. Image left: Prince
We visited the Shanghai Wild Animal Park and helped expose the terrible exploitation of wild animals in the name of entertainment; we helped persuade Hong Kong Disneyland to drop shark’s fin soup from its menu; we part-funded a Singaporean labelling scheme to urge consumers of traditional medicine not to buy products made from endangered species; and we joined a campaign to end the brutal slaying of bears in Hokkaido, Japan.
 The trafficking of live wildlife and wildlife parts is also of major concern to Project Asia. We also work to expose the reality of wild animal markets and their potential for disease, such as SARS, and work in conjunction with traditional medicine practitioners to promote the concept of healing without harm.
Project Asia is lobbying to end the abuse of animals in the name of entertainment at zoos and wildlife parks throughout China. Another horrific practice we are campaigning against is the feeding on live animals, such as chicken and goats to tigers and lions – again in the name of “entertainment”.
Our action and initiatives on welfare issues are specific to the region and include offering immediate emergency relief for animals in desperate situations as well as financial and expert support for smaller groups. Image right: Sunshine
“Friends…or Food?”
 Pet ownership is booming in China and today there are over 150 million pet dogs throughout the nation. Yet millions of innocent dogs and cats are still brutally slaughtered for food, and our investigations indicate that previous estimates of 10-20 million dogs and 4 million cats killed each year for meat may have been grossly underestimated. Our research shows that dog farms also slaughter, process and pack high volumes of dog meat on site for distribution around the country. As a result, over 25% of the supermarkets we surveyed in 2007 with the help our “Friends of Animals Asia” university support groups were found to be selling frozen dog meat and vacuum-packed dog-meat products. Under the umbrella of our “Friends…or Food?” campaign, Animals Asia is working to provide local animal lovers with a platform to stand up and speak out for what they believe in, so that together, we can end dog and cat eating from within.
In 2006, Animals Asia organised China’s first Companion Animal Symposium, now an annual event with about 40 enthusiastic groups taking part and returning to their provinces invigorated, encouraged and ready to help more cats and dogs.
Dr Dog
 Research has shown that dogs can be instrumental in improving the learning skills of a wide variety of children. Close interaction with dogs is proven to increase self-confidence and pro-social behaviour among students, while encouraging the development of compassion. Our 300 animal-therapy Dr Dogs are visiting hospitals, homes for the elderly, disabled centres and orphanages in the Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hong Kong. In Hong Kong alone, our devoted Dr Dogs gave 1,300 hours of community service last year, benefiting more than 100 organisations. In China, where the brutal dog and cat eating trade is still widespread, these hard-working ambassadors for their species are proving that companion animals are wonderful friends and helpers. Image above right: Dr Qi Qi with a disabled boy
 We have also introduced our Dr Dog programme to Taiwan, Quezon City in the Philippines, Bangalore and Chennai in India, Nishinomiya in Japan and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. In these cities, we worked with local animal welfare groups, offering them training and advice. Now the local groups are operating their own programmes independently.
Dr Dogs visited children from disaster areas of the recent earthquake. Image right: Jill with dog after earthquake
Professor Paws
In Animals Asia’s Professor Paws programme, dogs take on the role of teachers, inspiring school children to love and respect animals while learning English from native-English speakers.
Image below: Professor Schneider at work
Animals Asia’s Anneleise Smillie, who founded Professor Paws, says that since launching in 2004 more than 5,000 children across Hong Kong have graduated as “Pet Cadets” – thanks to the sheer hard work of more than 100 volunteers and their canine companions. And now, thanks to the generous sponsorship from banking group Citi, by the end of 2008, Professor Paws will have taught over 1,900 children.
Through the programme, children learn to overcome their fear of dogs, learn safety around dogs, responsible pet care and compassion for all animals. And of course the children get to hone their English-speaking and literacy skills with a native speaker in a fun environment.
Image right: Pet Cadet Little Johnson
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Animals Asia Foundation is a Hong Kong-based government-registered animal welfare charity founded by Jill Robinson MBE in 1998. 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. The Animals Asia Foundation, managed by professionals, resident in Asia, is committed to forging constructive solutions to the seemingly insurmountable problems which the animals face in today's changing environment. Implementation is through a dynamic three-pronged approach: investigation, negotiation and education. 
Animals Asia is guided by its vision: Change for all animals, inspired by empathy for the few. Our animal ambassadors embody the ideal that empathy for one animal can evolve into empathy for an entire species and ultimately for all species.
