Hours later, we were health-checking Lotus, whom we’d also called “Chengdu Truth” in Chinese. There are no words to describe our boiling rage at witnessing this skeleton sitting in a cage with a body so wasted that he couldn’t even lift his head.
JILL'S BLOG
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This is more than we can stand....two more bears have succumbed to liver cancer – leaving our team to pick up the pieces and end the lives of animals who deserved so much more. Many walls have been kicked in frustration since the bears arrived late on Monday night. It is only Wednesday and already four bears are lying in grassy mounds by the river, finally at peace.
Our clever techies in the Hong Kong office have been busy today uploading some footage of the rescue.
Just a quick note to let you know how deeply touched I am by all your beautiful messages of support. As you can imagine, the past few days have been absolutely devastating for all of us here in Chengdu and just knowing that you are with us in spirit means so, so much. Thank you…
Late this morning (Wednesday), Watermelon stretched his hind legs and tried to stand! He didn’t quite make it, but he tried!
After the heartache of “Peace”, we so much wanted to have some good news to lift everyone’s hearts here in Chengdu. Obviously it wasn’t meant to be. With so many sick and injured bears, we knew that our prioritisation of these poor creatures was imperative in order to bring the suffering of the worst to an end. Depressingly, we knew too that, by doing this job well, we would of course be ending our day with yet another post mortem.
It’s early Wednesday morning and our lovely boy, Watermelon is now in a recovery cage almost twice the size of the cage he arrived in. He’s made himself a cosy nest by dragging down the green browse we laid on top of his cage and he’s starting to eat a little of the nutritious bear food mix prepared by our fabulous kitchen staff – fruit, vegetables and special bear pellets. He’s still not eating and drinking nearly enough for Heather, our senior vet, to declare him out of the woods, but at least he’s trying.
Apologies for the intermittent posting – I’m afraid our internet connection had been a little temperamental the past couple of days….
It’s been a frantic and heartbreaking day for everyone here on site, but just quickly, more bad news I’m afraid. Two more beautiful bears have died today, one we euthanised to put him out of his agony, the other simply couldn’t hold on any longer – and who could blame him?
It is so hard to know how to start. Yesterday when we knew more bears were on their way to our China sanctuary, we were realistic enough to know that some would be in very poor shape and in urgent need of medical attention, but we also allowed ourselves to feel some excitement and hope. We had to.
Jill's Bio
Jill founded Animals Asia in 1998, after an encounter with a caged bear on a farm in China changed her life forever. She now heads a team of over 300 enthusiastic staff and divides her time between our bear rescue centres in China and Vietnam and our Hong Kong head office. She travels extensively to participate in conferences and speak at fundraising events.
Read more here.
