Moon Bears

Each of us is capable of changing our own destiny.

How we can change the future for us and other lives
depends on how we behave and respond when
the messages arrive, accept or reject,

it’s our choice.

— Jill Robinson | Founder of Animals Asia

 

I never knew that Moon Bears existed, now that I do know, thanks to a Google search for something completely unrelated that ended up showing me a picture af a Moon Bear named Derek that comedian/actor/animal activist Ricky Gervais adopted I can't get them out of my mind. 

These critters have been hunted in Asia for centuries, their most precious part being the bile from their gallbladder which is used in oriental medicine. In China and Vietnam, the bears are held in captivity and their bile is farmed. Sounds nice, but it is barbaric.

 

Most farmed bears are kept in tiny cages. In China, the cages are sometimes so small that the bears are unable to turn around or stand on all fours. Some bears are put into cages as cubs and never released. Bears may be kept caged like this for up to 30 years. 

Most farmed bears are starved, dehydrated and suffer from multiple diseases and malignant tumours that ultimately kill them. Bile is extracted using various painful, invasive techniques, all of which cause massive infection in the bears. This cruel practice continues despite the availability of a large number of effective and affordable herbal and synthetic alternatives.

It's not just dogs that need rescue. I know that it can be overwhelming thinking about all of the animals that are being abused. I lived in denial concerning animal cruelty for most of my adult life while working as a firefighter/EMT in Providence, and seeing unspeakable cruelty that people did to other people, never mind their pets.

I'm slowly becoming aware that even though I cannot do much as an individual, every individual effort does not go unnoticed, and when there are a number of individual acts of kindness and awareness, and perhaps a small donation, those acts gather momentum and the rising tide of cruelty, apathy and isolationism is diminished.

https://www.animalsasia.org/us/our-work/end-bear-bile-farming/