A popular restaurant in Guangzhou which has been serving dog meat since 1963 has shut down due to falling demand and stricter regulations. It comes on the back of a public poll earlier this year, where nearly 2 million Chinese backed proposed legislation to ban the dog and cat meat industries. [South China Morning Post]

The shooting of a reality show titled Dolphins with the Stars has been suspended in Portugal after campaigning by animal activists. The show, which involved celebrities training captive dolphins to perform tricks, was deemed “exploitative” and in contravention of zoo regulations. [BBC]

After a protracted campaign and months of lobbying, Animals Asia rescued the sole surviving moon bear from the Cau Trang Bear Farm in Vietnam’s Halong Bay and forced it to shut down. The organisation’s Save the Halong Bay Bears campaign resulted in Animals Asia being given a remit to shut down every bear bile farm in Quang Ninh, by transferring every bear in the province to their Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre. [Animals Asia]

Fishermen in Taiji, the Japanese town made infamous by the 2009 documentary The Cove, which depicted its annual slaughter of dolphins, said they will continue to hunt dolphins by this controversial method. Japan’s zoos and aquariums recently voted to stop buying animals caught in this way. [Japan Times]

A new report by TRAFFIC, which was funded by Animals Asia, has found that the illegal trade in bear bile and gall bladders for traditional medicine is open and widespread across Malaysia, potentially a serious threat to wild bear populations across the region. [The Malaysian Insider] 

A circus elephant, which was rented out for entertainment in Bagerhat, Bangladesh, broke free from its chains and subsequently killed three people and damaged several houses. Police managed to re-capture the animal without the use of deadly force. Animals Asia’s No Voice No Choice campaign is currently seeking an end to the use of animals in entertainment globally. [The Daily Star]

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