The “Indiana Jones of wildlife conservation” was an optimist in a field dominated by doom-and-gloom NEW YORK CITY––Wild cat conservationist Alan Rabinowitz died of cancer on August 5, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, after an 18-year struggle that began with a diagnosis of leukemia in 2001 and spanned most of the achievements for […]
China: Stopping dog trucks is the easy part. Saving dogs is harder.
Some dogs die from their ordeal, but more than 80% are saved GUANGZHOU, China––The hardest part of rescuing a truckload of suspected stolen dogs en route to slaughter in Guangzhou, China on June 19, 2017 had only just began when the cages of dogs were unloaded. The cargo, initially believed to be about 800 […]
Why Guangzhou dog rescue reveals more about China than Yulin dog-eating festival
Rescue in hub of dog meat trade won more notice than festival held to boost dog-eating YULIN, China––The largest-ever rescue of dogs from a truck hauling them to slaughter, accomplished on June 19, 2017 in Guangzhau, the longtime hub of dog-eating in China, very nearly upstaged the 2017 Yulin Lychee & Dog-Eating Festival, which […]
Rumored Yulin dog meat festival cancellation still unconfirmed
Global media frenzy overlooks lack of official notice from China YULIN, China––Chinese media, including those that usually publicize government announcements, had through May 20, 2017 remained conspicuously silent about a purported week-long suspension of dog meat sales said to have been introduced in Yulin, China coinciding with the annual Yulin Lychee & Dog-Eating Festival. The […]
Greyhound racing in Macau, China runs toward oblivion
Greyhound Racing New South Wales charges 179 “industry participants” with illegally supplying the only track in China RHODES, New South Wales, Australia; MACAU, China––Charges brought against 179 Australian “industry participants” for allegedly illegally exporting greyhounds to Macau appear likely to hasten the anticipated imminent end of greyhound racing at the Macau Canidrome, the oldest […]
Jasper’s gift: the real-life care bear
“Poster bear” for ending bile farming Jasper, 30, the moon bear who became “poster bear” for the Animals Asia Foundation campaign against farming bears to extract bile from their livers, was euthanized on April 29, 2016 due to incurable cancer. “Moon bear Jasper spent 15 years in a Chinese bile farm crush cage,” the Animals […]
Chinese activists thwart Canadian hope of selling seal meat to China
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia––Canadian fisheries minister Gail Shea admitted on the eve of the April 14 opening of the 2014 Atlantic Canada seal hunt that “a trade agreement to sell Canadian seal meat in China announced more than three years ago has been largely thwarted by animal rights activists,” reported Michael […]
Bear bile farm to become a bear sanctuary
BEIJING––The Hong Kong-based Animals Asia Foundation on April 15, 2014 announced at a Beijing media conference that it will take custody of 130 moon bears at the financially troubled Nanning Bear Farm, and will convert the farm into a sanctuary for about 100 bears. The Nanning Bear Farm was built […]
Animals Asia Foundation saves Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre and halts Zimbabwe/China baby elephant deal––in same week
HONG KONG, HANOI, HARARE––The Animals Asia Foundation on January 16, 2013 won a six-month battle against the ordered eviction of the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre from the edge of Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam––and just three days later won the cancellation of a controversial sale of baby elephants from Zimbabwe to China. “This is a […]
Chinese activists object to Canadian deal to sell seal meat & oil to China
BEIJING, HALIFAX–Canadian Fisheries Minister Gail Shea on January 12, 2011 announced to news media by teleconference call from Beijing that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Chinese Administration of Quality Supervision have reached an agreement which will allow Canadian sealers to export seal meat and oil to China for human consumption. Struggling to find new markets since the European Union banned the […]