Hope dawning for 130 moon bears in Nanning

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THANKS EVERYBODY!! AM I A LUCKY BEAR OR WHAT TO HAVE YOU AS MY FAMILY!

WOW! Jigsaw's 4th puzzle was finished in only 10 months and raised over $8,000! BIG thankyou to everyone who donated, including several schools with their fundraising! All up, with our Trash'n'Treasure event, we achieved our "annual" goal of donating $10,000 to Animals Asia. To first-timers and longterm supporters: I hope you realise that your contributions make an enormous difference! Animals Asia receives no government funding, existing entirely on donations.

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Ahhhh! BLISS!

While it goes without saying that a certain bear we know is quite possibly hanging out, like this, right now at his bear sanctuary inTam Dao…. Animals Asia is undertaking one of its biggest challenges to date - and needs our support big time! Please take the time to read our newsletter links for some stories that are both uplifting and heartbreaking.

It's hard to know where to start with this update. In our last newsletter Animals Asia had just been given custodianship of 130 bears on a bear-bile farm that had chosen to close down. This is history in the making, the first-ever opportunity to show how these heartless, brutal environments can be reborn as a place of sanctuary and care for the bears.

Clearly the hope is for Nanning to be successful, thus becoming a model and catalyst for broad scale change within this abhorrent industry.

Many Chinese people want bear-bile farming to stop. But what to do with all the bears??? For many people this task would seem formidable and overwhelming but, thankfully, not so for Jill Robinson and her Animals Asia teams. They are ready for the challenge -with our help

It will take time and require lots of money.

But think about this: Your donation will help a monumental shift in animal welfare rights to take place in the world's largest nation. Not many people can say they've created change in China…for the good...but you could..

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ANIMALS ASIA STAFF START WITH THE BASICS: FRESH FOOD...

62 BEARS live in one shed, ROW upon ROW upon...

"I was shocked when I entered the bear sheds where bears are kept in small cages, dens and enclosures. They are terribly skinny and have bad coats. With pale eyes they stare and pant, while their tongues hang out. Flies and their own waste surround them. The smell is terrible. Later we found out there had been no water on site since the previous night – a nightmare for the bears as temperatures had reached 30 degrees."

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MAKESHIFT SURGERY on the CONCRETE for 8 HOURS STRAIGHT

Frustrated by delays in paperwork that would enable Animals Asia to transport the sickest bears back to the purpose-built surgery at its Chengdu sanctuary, the veterinarian team "set up" on the concrete floor in 30'C heat to begin health checks on the worst of the bears, IV drip held up on a bamboo ladder…
Without a break and with temperatures rising, the team started work on Pickle - a bear whose claws they discovered had been previously removed at finger tip level and several of her teeth sawed back to the bone. These procedures often occur in bear farms and it is unknown whether Pickle underwent this process before she arrived at Nanning

Above is Milly. She lives in Shed 3, Unit B3. Her day is spent moving from a barren windowless courtyard to a tiny feeding cage. A lifetime of indifference and a complete lack of veterinary care has left Milly in serious pain.
Currently, the claw on her right hind-paw has grown deep into her foot-pad where it has become infected, making every step excruciatingly painful.

CLICK to watch Animal's Asia's SHORT VIDEO about its PEACE BY PIECE campaign

Heart-breaking, sobering facts now coming to light via Animals Asia's social media. Along with the Nanning Diary updates, it has an excellent Facebook site

▪ the bears did not have access to free running water
▪ Many suffered painful claw extractions and teeth cut down to the gums.
▪ Kept on the edge of a starvation diet, to eat they had no option but to lie down in a crush pen (inside their cage) so that bile could be extracted at the same time through a permanent hole in their abdomen
▪ Before Animals Asia came to their rescue they ate gruel, every day.
▪ The bears were so starved of stimulation they would rather stand on barred cage floors all day where they could at least see other bears than remain hidden in their tiny solitary concrete cells off the back of their cage.
▪ No veterinary services were available to the bears before Animals Asia

FROM THIS LIFE

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TO THIS LIFE!

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HATCHING A PLAN FOR OUR NEW BUDDY!

Hi everyone! It's your bear Jigsaw. Well, I think Sal has told you enough to make us all want to go to Nanning and help out! But I believe we can do much more from here.

It's only 5 years since I was rescued and I KNOW what it means to go from being a cage with a number to a bear with a name…..

So I have been talking to my bear buddies here (and Sal) and we have decided it would be fun to have a BEAR BUDDY in NANNING! We're going to RAISE MONEY for our new buddy between now and Christmas. As your on-the-ground, roving (well I like to think so) "Beyond the Bamboo" Reporter I will make contact with our bear buddy and send you all the news! We don't have one yet, so it could be a boy (cool) or a girl (ooh, that would be really nice :o)

Well, we're not exactly sure yet. It won't be a bear puzzle - Sal says they're reserved for ME and my next one will be in 2015.

Actually we're hoping YOU will join in the fun with your own ideas…..and run a little event of your own.

If 20 people each undertook to raise $500, we could have $10,000 for our Bear Buddy!! How cool would that be!! And then there would be another lucky lucky bear just like me! Of course, all-size events will help us achieve our total - so a donation tin at the office coffee corner for a month will bring the tally along too!!

One of my bear mums just held a High Tea afternoon for a charity, cooking up some fabulous cakes, biscuits and pies @ $50 head, hoping to raise $600. 40 friends supported her, and along with a wine auction, brought the total to $3000. Held at home on a wintry day it brought warmth to a very worthy cause. How easy is that!!!

I know that all of you - MY FAMILY - have friends out there who will be willing to give us bears a helping paw You just need to dream up your little event, set a date and send the invites!!

Why wait till we get our new buddy's name and photo?? You can hold an event now! You can donate your money directly to PeacebyPiece campaign or via Adoptamoonbear

But please share your story with us about your event (even send pictures) so we can share it with everyone!

Sal is working on a BIG list of GREAT fuNraising Ideas for you, your office and your school - and will be back in touch with you very soon!! She would love to have some of your favourite ideas so please email her. Sal will provide pages of information from Animals Asia about Nanning to help you get your message across! But here's a ready link if you can't wait to get going! Remember we have cute cards & tea towels you can sell !!! And of course, you can still just donate!!!!