Just a quick note to let you know how deeply touched I am by all your beautiful messages of support. As you can imagine, the past few days have been absolutely devastating for all of us here in Chengdu and just knowing that you are with us in spirit means so, so much. Thank you…
JILL'S BLOG
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Late this morning (Wednesday), Watermelon stretched his hind legs and tried to stand! He didn’t quite make it, but he tried!
After the heartache of “Peace”, we so much wanted to have some good news to lift everyone’s hearts here in Chengdu. Obviously it wasn’t meant to be. With so many sick and injured bears, we knew that our prioritisation of these poor creatures was imperative in order to bring the suffering of the worst to an end. Depressingly, we knew too that, by doing this job well, we would of course be ending our day with yet another post mortem.
It’s early Wednesday morning and our lovely boy, Watermelon is now in a recovery cage almost twice the size of the cage he arrived in. He’s made himself a cosy nest by dragging down the green browse we laid on top of his cage and he’s starting to eat a little of the nutritious bear food mix prepared by our fabulous kitchen staff – fruit, vegetables and special bear pellets. He’s still not eating and drinking nearly enough for Heather, our senior vet, to declare him out of the woods, but at least he’s trying.
Apologies for the intermittent posting – I’m afraid our internet connection had been a little temperamental the past couple of days….
It’s been a frantic and heartbreaking day for everyone here on site, but just quickly, more bad news I’m afraid. Two more beautiful bears have died today, one we euthanised to put him out of his agony, the other simply couldn’t hold on any longer – and who could blame him?
It is so hard to know how to start. Yesterday when we knew more bears were on their way to our China sanctuary, we were realistic enough to know that some would be in very poor shape and in urgent need of medical attention, but we also allowed ourselves to feel some excitement and hope. We had to.
After the horrors of Maoshan live animal market a few weeks ago and seeing so much terrible abuse of dogs, cats and other domestic animals, Christie, Rainbow and I became part of something unbelievably inspiring in China this Easter weekend.
Just a quick note to bring you some fantastic news! The Hong Kong journalist, who spent months investigating bear farming, visiting farms and our Chengdu sanctuary, has just won the “Best Writing” prize in the Hong Kong News Awards. Well done Elsa! To read the full story and to see translations of Elsa’s awarding winning articles
Everyone has a hero in their lives and I first saw mine when I was six. She starred in an unforgettable film called “Born Free”, which touched the heart of a little girl and started the ripple of a lifetime love of animals.
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.
