As ever on these disgusting farms, we smelt the bears before we saw them. The door creaked open and 10 pairs of eyes blinked at us out of their cages in the gloomy half light. It was only about 9 o'clock in the morning, but a grey smog hung in the air and the farm seemed all the more depressing for it. Rainbow told us that the red and gold sign above the door proudly announced "peace in four seasons" – which is ironic given that it has been anything but peaceful for the victims inside.
JILL'S BLOG
Recent Posts
The recent 15th meeting of the 175-nation CITES failed many species, particularly marine, with nearly all related proposals voted down. Broadcaster Al Jazeera sums up the meeting and the situation well.
The recent 15th meeting of the 175-nation CITES failed many species, particularly marine, with nearly all related proposals voted down. Broadcaster Al Jazeera sums up the meeting and the situation well.
On Sunday last week, Vet Heather, Vet Nurse Wen, and I visited Indonesia for a few days to work with the lovely Gabriella Fredriksson (or Gaby as everyone knows her) in East Kalimantan.
There have been some lovely updates from the vet/bear team recently, since NIC had his remaining eye removed because he’d been going progressively blind.
Another exciting week with the bears in Chengdu, with a visit by long-standing friend and ally Harriet Tung and her husband, Tung Chee Chen (CC), who is the brother of Hong Kong’s first Chief Executive, Tung Chee Hwa.
We recently received a letter from Christine Yan Qing, who was so very special to us all during her years with Animals Asia at our China sanctuary. Christine even (very generously and very patiently) began Chinese lessons for the Westerners in her spare time!
UK comedian and actor Ricky Gervais has come up trumps for the bears and, just this week, won Britain's popular Absolute Radio competition “Who’s calling Christian?” beating UK opposition leader David Cameron and veteran radio and TV broadcaster and comedian Sir Terry Wogan in the process.
This past month has been one for the dogs in Hong Kong! Just a few weeks ago we held our annual Walk for Harmony, with nearly 100 volunteers, supporters and their dogs turning up in the heat to walk a route in Hong Kong – showing off our four-legged best friends as a species so deserving of being humankind’s friends, not food or fur.
Love and thanks from the heart from the bears, dogs, cats and people who have had the utmost privilege to know and work with Annie Ditton, our amazing volunteer who gave up six months of her life to live and work on site with us in Chengdu.
Jill's Bio
Jill founded Animals Asia in 1998, after an encounter with a caged bear on a farm in China changed her life forever. She now heads a team of over 300 enthusiastic staff and divides her time between our bear rescue centres in China and Vietnam and our Hong Kong head office. She travels extensively to participate in conferences and speak at fundraising events.
Read more here.
