“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 […]
Viet shelter sold dogs for meat; U.S. shelters sold dogs to fighters
Horrific case, but no cause for cultural finger-pointing DA NANG, CHAMBERSBURG, TAMPA––Vu Van Chinh, founder of the Da Nang Dogs & Cats Information & Rescue Station in Da Nang, Vietnam, “has admitted that he killed dogs and sold them to local restaurants,” reported Philip Sherwell, Bangkok correspondent for the London Daily Telegraph, on April […]
Viet officials agree to send last bile farm bears at Halong Bay to sanctuary
Officials agree to end bile farming HONG KONG––Local authorities in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam “have agreed to completely end bear bile farming in the province by transferring all of the remaining 38 bears [still on bile farms] to Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre,” publicists Maya Gottfried and Steve Jackson of the Hong Kong-based Animals […]
Update on Halong Bay bears
To update Horrific events spark rise of animal advocacy in Vietnam, the Vietnamese authorities have agreed that the bear bile farms in Halong Bay have broken bear-keeping regulations, paving the way for the bears to be rescued. A report by Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) details how nine moon bears are being […]
Horrific events spark rise of animal advocacy in Vietnam
Thirteen bile farm bears starved to death HANOI––The good news for animals emerging from Vietnam in early 2015 is that the bad news made big news; much of the Vietnamese public responded with shock and outrage; mainstream Vietnamese media amplified the protest; and top-ranking political office holders took notice. The bad news during the last […]
China’s largest bear bile producer is chickening out of the market
Five-year plan to develop synthetic alternatives HONG KONG––The Animals Asia Foundation on July 31, 2014 cautiously welcomed a report that KaiBao Pharmaceutical, the world’s largest maker of bear bile pharmaceuticals, has embarked upon a five-year-plan to develop synthetic alternatives using byproducts from poultry slaughter. Reality is that there are already synthetic alternatives for every […]
Bear bile farm to become a bear sanctuary
Had yet to tap bears 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 […]
Animals Asia Foundation saves Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre and halts Zimbabwe/China baby elephant deal––in same week
“This is a week we will never forget” 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 […]
Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre fights takeover attempt by zoo promoter
Audacious scheme allegedly advanced by Tam Dao National Park director HONG KONG, HANOI––The Animals Asia Foundation is fighting an audacious scheme allegedly advanced by Tam Dao National Park director Do Dinh Tien to evict Animals Asia and 104 moon bears from the Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre, on the edge of the park, and turn the facilities built at […]
Ingesting bear bile can kill, warns top Vietnamese traditional doctor
Treated 10 bear bile users for poisoning; two died. HANOI––People’s Doctor Nguyen Xuan Huong, chair of the Traditional Medicine Association of Vietnam, on July 21, 2010 warned that consuming bear bile products can cause potentially fatal liver and kidney damage. Huong, who served two terms in the Vietnamese National Assembly, “joined Animals Asia’s campaign to end bear bile […]