I was just thinking about these folks yesterday and today I got their annual report.
Read up on www.animalsasia.org
Moon bears are kept like this from cub-hood to death with an open wound in their abdomen to extract bile, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine. They often have their teeth and claws removed.
These pictures absolutely haunt me. They put factory farming to shame, as unimaginable as that may seem.
The folks at Animals Asia are trying to put an end to this practice and giving sanctuary to the bears they have rescued from such a life. They also work to help dogs and cats killed for food in Asia and educate people about compassion for animals.
Not to rip on the Asians, but damn. It's hard for me to believe that a difference in culture can cause what I believe to be a complete lack of empathy. One of the bears was kept in someone's KITCHEN in Vietnam for like 14 years. How could you look at a suffering being for 14 years, stuck in a tiny cage, in constant pain.. and live with yourself? I don't get it.
I've given them money in the past. At this point I'm considering sponsoring a bear for $45/month.
I'm Stacey. I'm a 31(!)-year-old Wisconsin girl living in sunny South Florida. The highlights in my life are my lovely boyfriend, my aloof cats, my adorable/adoring stepdogs, my two lumbering tortoises, select family members, being outside, being underwater, taking pictures, yadda yadda. Stay tuned for lots of babbling!
A small boy lived by the ocean. He loved the creatures of the sea, especially the starfish, and he spent much of his time exploring the seashore.
One day the boy learned there would be a minus tide that would leave the starfish stranded on the sand.
When the tide went out, he went down to the beach, began picking up the stranded starfish, and tossing them back into the ocean.
An elderly man who lived next door came down to the beach to see what the boy was doing. Seeing the man's quizzical expression, the boy paused as he approached. "I'm saving the starfish!" the boy proudly declared.
When the neighbor saw all of the stranded starfish he shook his head and said: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, young man, but if you look down the beach, there are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see. And if you look up the beach the other way, it's the same. One little boy like you isn't going to make much of a difference."
The boy thought about this for a moment. Then he reached his small hand down to the sand, picked up another starfish, tossed it out into the ocean, and said: "Well, I sure made a difference for that one!"
