Animal cruelity

 

How are Animals Abused and Exploited in Asia?

Animals in Asia are among the most abused in the world. From bears captured and caged for their 'bile', to dogs and cats slaughtered in horrific ways for their meat, exploitation of animals in Asia is common and widespread.

There are far fewer laws protecting animals in Asia from cruelty and exploitation than in other continents.

This makes the work of dedicated animal welfare charities in Asia like Animals Asia, even harder, as the law is often on the side of animal abusers.

Animal welfare organisation, Animals Asia, started after our founder Jill Robinson, witnessed horrific animal cruelty on one of China's infamous 'bear bile farms'.

But today, it works on a range of animal welfare issues facing animals in China and Vietnam.

 

What is Bear Bile Farming?

Bear bile farming is a cruel farming system designed to extract bile from the gallbladders of living bears for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Some mammals in captivity in zoos in Asia also suffer with injury and disease. Many wild animals in captivity even self-harm due to the frustration and boredom of constant confinement. Most receive no medical care and are left to suffer alone.

Most farmed bears are kept permanently in cages, sometimes so small that they are unable to turn around or stand on all fours.

Some bears are caged as cubs and never released, with many kept caged for up to 30 years.

Most farmed bears are starved and dehydrated, and suffer from multiple diseases and malignant tumours that ultimately kill them.

On bile farms, bears are seen as mere production units, only worth the amount of bile they produce. Animals Asia has also seen instances of old or very sick bears – those who fail to produce bile – simply left to starve to death in their cages. Bear's bile is extracted using various invasive techniques, all of which cause severe suffering, pain and infection.

The method claimed to be the most 'humane' by bile farmers, is 'free-drip' method, where bears undergo surgery to create a permanent open passage from their gallbladder through their abdomen.

The surgery is crude, unhygienic and rarely performed by a veterinarian. This results in many of the bears dying from infections or other complications, and agony for those who do survive.

STOP ABUSING ANIMAL