For the past few years, Animals Asia’s vet team at our rescue centre in Vietnam has been training four vet interns to care for the last remaining bile bears in the country.

We asked Hân, Hương, Thái and Ngân what it meant to them to be working towards ending the cruel trade of bear bile farming, and what their hopes are for the future of animal welfare in Vietnam. 

Hương Phạm

I feel so lucky to be a part of the team that’s ending bear bile farming and to be doing work I truly love. I’m proud to be part of an organisation that is freeing bears from bear bile farms in Vietnam and improving animal welfare in Asia.

Hopefully in the near future Vietnam will no longer have bears being kept for bear bile farming. And I also hope that Vietnamese people will say no to products not just from bears, but from all wild animals.

Ly Mai Hân

I feel proud to be part of a Vietnamese team that’s leading and making a huge change in our home country to international standards. Being a core member of a team that represents the hope of animal welfare and putting an end to bear bile farming in Vietnam inspires me to keep doing my best every day.

Thái Lê

Looking back at our training, I can’t believe how far we’ve all come. All my colleagues and I are very excited and are looking forward to the day when Bach Ma Bear Rescue Centre welcomes its first rescued bear. It will be a memorable milestone in the journey to end bear bile farming in Vietnam.

Trần Khánh Ngân

Becoming one of the vets at Animals Asia’s new sanctuary makes me feel so proud and excited, but also nervous. The new sanctuary will be managed solely by Vietnamese staff. This is a huge responsibility and challenge, but we’ve been trained by the best team ever so I am confident we will make everyone proud.

As a person who cares about wildlife, I feel so proud of my country as by committing to ending bear bile farming the Vietnamese authorities are demonstrating their dedication to ending the illegal wildlife trade. Now we can start to see the picture of a bear bile farm-free Vietnam and a beautiful picture for all the animals.

We can’t wait to watch these awesome young vets embark on the biggest challenge of their professional lives, and the biggest challenge of Animals Asia’s history: ending bear bile farming in Vietnam forever. 

Read more: 

Meet the fresh-faced vets set to be Vietnam's leading lights of animal welfare

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