Wednesday, August 1, 2012

23 Reasons Animal Lovers Should Boycott China - Reason #1: China Tortures and Kills Bears


Right now in China, some 12,000 bears are confined to cages barely big enough to hold their bodies so that their bile can be drained...all for a Chinese superstition

[When I started this blog in 2008, my first post was about a dog who was chained inside a gallery and starved as part of an "artwork." Since then, animal welfare has remained a primary theme on 13.7 Billion Years. Over the years, I have learned about countless stories of animal cruelty here in the United States and across the world. But one country has shown the most blatant and widespread disregard for the lives and well-being of non-human animals: China. As Mahatma Gandhi wisely observed, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated." If China is to become a great nation, it has a lot of work to do. One way concerned people can help put pressure on China to change is to stop buying Chinese goods. More than 2.3 million people worldwide have signed the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, and the number of animal lovers around the globe is much greater. Imagine if all of them stopped purchasing Chinese products. So, every weekday for the month of August, I'll give animal lovers one reason to boycott China—23 reasons in all. It will not be an easy month to digest all the horrific stories and cruel practices. But I have placed great value in a quote by the late philosopher Albert Schweitzer: "Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." This month, I'll be doing that, and I hope you will too. -- Reynard Loki]

Thousands of black bears and sun bears needlessly suffer great pain and die in tiny cages the size of their own bodies in China and South Korea all for what is essentially a Chinese superstition. Bile is drained from the bears for use in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) until the bears are old enough to have their gall bladders harvested—though there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that the bile has any medicinal effect. A shrinking market may end this horrific practice in South Korea, though the market in China remains strong.

"In fact, it may be the size and scope of Chinese bear farming that is putting South Korea's industry to sleep," writes John R. Platt in a recent Scientific American blog post.

"China's bear farming industry is 10 to 12 times the size of South Korea's, with at least 12,000 animals being drained of their bile, and has been heavily criticized for its brutality. Poaching of wild bears is also rampant in China."

According to the Daily Mail, animal rights campaigners have witnessed bears deliberately starving themselves to death, essentially committing suicide to end their incredible suffering. In one heartbreaking account, a mother bear killed her cub and then herself to end their daily torture.

ACTION ALERTS
  • Sign a Change.org petition to close China's bear bile farms
  • Sign the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW)
  • Follow 13.7 Billion Years on Twitter
23 REASONS ANIMAL LOVERS SHOULD BOYCOTT CHINA
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