In what is being described as the biggest bear rescue in history, Animals Asia is converting a bear bile farm in Nanning, China, into a sanctuary following an unprecedented request by the farm to rescue and care for its 130 bears. While the majority of the bears will remain on the farm during its two year conversion into a sanctuary, 28 bears who are too sick to stay will travel 746 miles to Animals Asia’s existing bear sanctuary in Chengdu for urgent veterinary care. The cost of veterinary care, the conversion of the farm and three years of bear care are estimated to cost Animals Asia $5 million.

Bear bile farm

Bear bile is used in traditional Chinese medicine. According to Animals Asia, “over 10,000 bears are believed to be in farms in China suffering daily extractions in tiny cages and horrific conditions.”

With 87% of Chinese people being opposed to bear bile farming, the closure of the Nanning Farm could trigger other owners to shut theirs down too. I doubt that those who have exploited the bears are going to contribute money to help pay for their new lives at sanctuaries. Please visit Animals Asia to see how you can help support this rescue.

According to the NY Times, a 4-month undercover investigation by PETA showed that racehorse trainers “subject their horses to cruel and injurious treatments, administer drugs to them for nontherapeutic purposes, use electrical devices to shock horses into running faster and force injured and/or suffering horses to race and train.” As a result of PETA’s investigation, horse racing authorities in New York, Kentucky and New Mexico opened investigations into allegations of abuse by Steve Asmussen, a prominent horse trainer, and his assistant Scott Blasi, both of whom were the subject of PETA’s undercover work. Mr. Asmussen has been removed as a finalists for the Racing Hall of Fame.

Horses who are unlucky enough to “work” in the racing industry spend their short lives being drugged, injured and abused behind the scenes. And, when they can no longer make money for their owners, they are slaughtered for their meat. Like all animals used for entertainment and profit, these horses are treated like commodities, not companions. Please boycott horse and dog race tracks, circuses, aquariums, zoos, rodeos, bullfights and urban horse-drawn carriage concessions. For more information about horse-racing and to find out how you can help, please visit PETA’s horse-racing page.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the City Council today voted 49-1 to ban the sale of commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits in Chicago. According to a City clerk, the law “cuts off a pipeline of the animals coming from the horrendous puppy mill industry and instead moves us towards a retail pet sales model that focuses on adopting out the many, many homeless animals [from shelters and rescues] in need of loving homes in this city.” Chicago joins Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and many other U.S. cities have already instituted a ban. In January, New York state passed a law giving local municipalities the power to impose their own regulations on pet sales, according to the Daily News. The NYC Council has since introduced a bill that would prevent city pet stores from buying cats and dogs from unlicensed breeders.

Until every homeless animal in a shelter or at a rescue finds a forever home, we must continue to lobby for the passage of laws banning the sale of companion animals from commercial breeding operations. And, even then, we must always fight for the closure of puppy mills, which are cruel and dangerous businesses that treat animals like commodities. To anyone working in animal rescue, the “kill lists” are a daily reminder of the crisis of overpopulation and the importance of adoption and animal birth control. If helping homeless animals is important to you, please consider volunteering at a local shelter, helping place animals in foster homes, lobbying for laws banning the sale of commercially bred animals, and, of course, encouraging people to adopt, not shop.

In January 2015, egg farmers in California will be required to provide 116 square inches per hen, compared to 67 square inches, which is the industry standard. In response to California’s decision to require out-of-state egg suppliers to provide their hens with the same space, the Missouri attorney general has filed a lawsuit to block the new rules, and several other states might do the same. According to the NY Times, “The beef and pork lobbies are also lining up against the California rules in an effort to prevent any new restrictions on raising livestock.”

The “colony cages” shown in this NYT photo are 49 square
inches bigger than battery cages

The first sentence in this NY Times article is alarming: “Hens in California are living the good life. Many can now lay their eggs in oversize enclosures roomy enough to stand up, lie down — even extend their wings fully without touching another bird.” Does the NY Times really think that being permanently imprisoned in slightly larger cages inside a shed with no natural light and no access to the earth constitutes “a good life?” Putting a positive spin on conditions that are merely “less horrible” gives consumers license to eat eggs from hens who have horrible lives. According to the NY Times, “90 percent of the nation’s roughly 280 million laying hens are still in battery cages about as big as a filing-cabinet drawer.” Please share this undercover footage of battery cages taken by Mercy For Animals.

Denmark has banned kosher and halal slaughter. According to British newspaper The Independent, “European regulations require animals to be stunned before they are slaughtered, but grants exemptions on religious grounds. For meat to be considered kosher under Jewish law or halal under Islamic law, the animal must be conscious when killed.” Muslim and Jewish leaders are claiming discrimination, but the Danish government is defending the law, stating “animal rights come before religion.”

Photo from The Independent

In spite of worldwide outrage, the Danish government didn’t intervene in February when the Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy young giraffe to prevent inbreeding and fed him to the lions. In addition, the Danish government continues to allow the brutal slaughter of hundreds of pilot whales each year in the Faroe Islands. Like every other country that claims to care for its animals while condoning and defending violence toward them, Denmark is being hypocritical. And the government should be held accountable until all forms of animal abuse are abolished. But that shouldn’t stop us from celebrating and promoting their historic declaration that “animal rights come before religion.”