Dear IAKA/KAPS Members and Friends,

Normally IAKA only concentrates on Korean animals; however, this matter is urgent. On the heels of a recent victory for the Chinese bears, Jill Robinson, founder of Animals Asia, and many animal advocates in Australia have planned a massive letter writing campaign regarding the elimination of the Chinese practice of farming bears for their bile. They need 100,000 letters to be sent to the Chinese Ambassador of Australia, ASAP, in preparation for a visit from Senior Chinese politicians.

We have included a sample letter below -- feel free to alter it as you deem appropriate and send it to the Chinese Ambassador in your country, too. Animals Asia and the Australian animal activists have a lot invested in their relationship with the Chinese officials, so please keep the letter polite and courteous.

PLEASE WRITE THIS LETTER AND THEN PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO YOUR FRIENDS AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO WRITE A LETTER, TOO.

Background information:

Magnificent Asiatic Moon bears are caught in traps, caged for 25 years in cramped steel coffins and holes punctured in their gall bladders drip into containers.

The bears are so traumatized that they injure themselves and some go insane. If you were imprisoned in a steel cage, unable to move, in a claustrophobic dark cellar, barely able to breathe the stale putrid air, in perpetual agony and terror, you would do the same. Remember - 25 years! If you saw their injuries, it would turn your guts... A rescued bear with one leg torn off, stoically suffering in silence is a chilling experience.

In hopes of curing liver disease, bear bile is drunk by people who don't see that a cheaper, more effective, man-made alternative is readily available on the market. Even traditional Chinese medicine has finally accepted that the alternative is superior and recommends it. But old habits die hard and politics plays its part. With falling bile prices they even planned on using it in shampoo and toothpaste! There are over 7,000 bears being tortured at this very moment in China alone.

For more information, please visit: http://www.animalsasia.org/.

Sample Letter

His Excellency Mr Wu Tao
Ambassador
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
15 Coronation Drive
Yarralumla ACT 2600

Dear Ambassador Wu Tao,

I would like to express both my concern over the deplorable practice of bear farming and my sincerest appreciation to the Government authorities in China for their admirable work towards eliminating such a practice.

The agreement between the Animals Asia Foundation, the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) and the Sichuan Forestry Department (SFD), to rescue 500 suffering and endangered Moon Bears, is one of the most remarkable and significant steps ever taken to address the welfare of individual animals, as well as the conservation of a species as a whole and I applaud their efforts wholeheartedly.

In recent years China has experienced dramatic change and growth in all arenas, which has led to an increased interest in business investments and tourism opportunities from the international community. As the spotlight continues to shine on China in the lead up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, it would seem only natural that these advances should extend to ending such medieval and disgraceful practices as bear farming which have no place in our civilized world.

I implore you to add your voice and encouragement to the growing call from within China and right across the world, to end bear farming. Please alert your government to the good work of Animals Asia, the CWCA and SFD and pass on my congratulations for their endeavors to end such unnecessary suffering once and for all.

Yours respectfully,

(Your Name)