The general perception of bears is they are cute and cuddly. Yes, they could be dangerous and could possibly kill you in a brutal attack but we still think they are warm and adorable creatures which they really are if we are not so stupid to provoke them.
But of course we know that and the general perception that the bears are big snuggly animals that’s nice to hug is still intact. This goes to explain the dozens of teddy bear soft toys in our bedroom. We love teddy bears. We can’t resist them. We buy teddy merchandises. We longed for the big huge life size teddy by the shop window of Memory Lane.
You know, i’m extremely tired and barely able to get up today. The boyfriend and i spent the night going through animalasia.org looking at photos after photos of the poor adorable moon bears.
Have you heard of the Moon Bears plight? It’s been going on since 1995 and i am surprise at myself for not being aware of it (being the self professed animal lover and all). I actually came across the founder’s blog long before when i was reading about the culling of dogs in China but didn’t have the guts to go though the posts afraid i might bawl like a baby (because i’m a champion cry baby). I really did not need another sad story in my conciseness that day.
However, last night the boyfriend was telling me the horrible stories of how moon bears’ bile are being harvest for the use of traditional Chinese medicine. I’ve got to read it and see the photos for myself and when i did i couldn’t begin to tell you how it affected me.
I read of how cruel the bears are treated – being incarcerated (some since baby) in cages too small that they could not move for years and years, how the confinement caused stunted growth in some cases, how the dirty catheters inserted to extract bile in their abdomen gets infected and causes multiple organ failures which the bear have to endure for years till they die, how their paws are chopped off to prevent them from scratching out the catheters, how diseased the bears have become which made them blind, brain damaged, violent even. Bears in painful custom metal jackets designed to protect the dirty latex contraption for extraction of bile.
How could someone be so cruel? Do they not have a conscious?
Come on, look at them!
The boyfriend and i gave a small donation for the cause last night and i felt better that we did something. We decided to sponsor a bear next year after the pay raise. It’ll be about USD45 (approx. RM154) per month which is a bit costly but we are thinking about it or at least we’ll befriend a bear for a mere USD80 (approx. RM274) per year. It’s really cool because you get annual photos and updates on your bear. It’s like owning one.
Going through the website again today i found a page at the Gift Shop where you can choose specific gifts for the bears such as food (pots of honey, tub of raisins, fruit baskets), toys (hammock, swings, etc) and medical services (vet care, health check, etc).
It’s really sweet actually and i think i’ll buy a pot of honey for a special bear this Christmas. It just cost USD8.00 per pot to make a bear happy for the festive season. Plus they’ll send you a nice card. It’ll do as a nice and thoughtful gift to someone to be donated on behalf on and it’ll be a great way to educate the kids.
By the way, if you’re wondering, this is not a paid post or anything. I’m just really passionate about animals. Although not passionate enough to be an activist but i like to do my part. I believe that if you have the means then you should give some to charity, if not for animals then for other unfortunate souls out there.
Knowing that, i think i could sleep a bit better tonight.
