Sections In Celebrity Support XIN Xin rocks! Sunday, January 11, 2009, 08:31 PM Jills Blog www.animalsasia.org Just a year ago, we had a very special guest on site - a Taiwanese rock star by the name of Xin. A vegetarian and animal lover, he must have fallen in love with the bears as he promised to compose a new song for them before he returned. True to his word, Xin came back to our sanctuary just recently to tell us about his new song "Release" about the bears and how it's his latest album. Coming to Chengdu to do a concert at the giant stadium here, he stopped off to see the bears once again and even helped Senior Vet Heather and our team on a health-check with Cookie. After that, it was a visit to see our formidable brown bear, Caesar, and a look of disbelief on his face when he saw the "full-metal jacket" Caesar had been forced to wear on the farm. Speaking at a press conference on site where he held a slogan board announcing "Let's reject buying or using any BEAR BILE products!", Xin was clearly a hit with the journalists jotting down his words. Occasionally they would ask him about his new album, but he refused to respond, saying: "I don't want to talk about anything related to my songs, I just came here to see these bears." One of the journalists asked if he would like to adopt a bear and without hesitation he flashed back the response: "Sure, sure. I would love to - and I hope that more people can follow suit and support this rescue." www.animalsasia.org Dave Spikey DAVE SPIKEY, Pheonix Nights star returned to the UK from a trip to Vietnam and China in November 2007, where he visited cruel bear bile farms as well as two Animals Asia bear rescue centres. Along with his wife, Kay, and the Animals Asia team, including two vets, Spikey visited seven bile farms implausibly situated in the tourist paradise of Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. The bears are kept in small cages and milked for their bile, which is used in traditional medicine. Spikey was clearly shocked and appalled as he walked along row after row of caged bears, 78 of which have been earmarked by the Vietnamese Government for release into the care of Animals Asia, which is completing phase one of a bear rescue centre near Hanoi. DAVE FEEDS A BEAR ON A VIETNAM BEAR FARM Spikey was horrified to see that many of the bears had horrific injuries and were kept without access to water. Some were in direct sunlight, despite the soaring temperatures. Some bears were missing paws from being caught in the wild, some had wounds on their faces from rubbing the bars of their cages in frustration and some had grotesquely bloated abdomens. Both passionate animals-lovers, Spikey and Kay, have adopted two bears and they each picked out “their bear” while visiting the farms. They later visited Animals Asia’s sanctuary near Hanoi, where their lucky bears will live out their lives. Spikey also saw first-hand the difficulties Animals Asia faced in dealing with the bear bile farming industry. Returning unexpectedly to one farm that they had left an hour earlier, he and the AAF team watched in astonishment as the panicked staff ran off leaving behind needles and drug bottles, used in the extraction of bile – a practice the farm had promised AAF and the authorities that they had stopped. Investigating further, they found an unconscious bear that had clearly just been subjected to the agonising procedure of bile extraction. Ironically, he was one of the beautiful bears that had particularly caught Spikey and Kay’s attention. The couple also visited Animals Asia’s China Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu, Sichuan province, where they saw rehabilitated Moon Bears enjoying their new lives – swimming, tumbling in the grass, climbing and foraging for tasty fruit. They also attended an AAF charity event in a local bar – it was packed with young Chinese listening to bands and intent on raising money to help save China’s tortured bears. Sadly, Spikey and Kay were also present when one of the rescued Moon Bears was euthanised after AAF vets discovered he was riddled with liver cancer – a common cause of death among the rescued, but previously tortured, bears. The two were among the mourners who gathered for “Fuzzy’s” burial later that day. JILL HELPS DAVE TAKE BLOOD FROM "FUZZY" DURING A HEALTH CHECK Last summer, Spikey was guest auctioneer at an Animals Asia fundraising event in Manchester. Kay explained that her comedian husband had to knock back about three requests a day from charities asking for help. But when he heard about Animals Asia and the horrific treatment of Moon Bears, he knew this was one charity he simply had to support. Dave and Kay clearly experienced a roller-coaster of emotions for the entire trip, yet it only strengthened their resolve to help this intelligent forgiving species all the more. We are all extremely grateful to them for everything they are doing to help bring this vile industry to an end. www.animalsasia.org Olivia Newton John Our long-time supporter Olivia Newton-John has come to our aid, recording a moving TV advertisement calling for an end to bear farming. And another talented supporter, German musician Andreas Goldschmidt, wrote the beautiful backing music. Olivia’s impassioned plea is being broadcast throughout Australia and New Zealand, on Channel 7, Channel 9, National Geographic and SBS, across Asia on Star World and Nat Geo Wild and in other countries later in 2007. On a recent whirlwind concert tour of Asia, lovely Olivia took time out of her hectic schedule to record the session in Hong Kong with yet another of our wonderful supporters, filmmaker Libby Halliday (who made "Moon Bears: Journey to Freedom", which was released recently on Animal Planet.) We are so grateful that we can count on Olivia’s support: "It is simply heartbreaking that these poor bears are put through such unnecessary torture," she said recently. "Some of them are kept in tiny cages for up to quarter of a century. This is cruelty beyond belief. It is so important that people understand that there are plenty of effective and affordable alternatives to bear bile," she said. "I have a great deal of admiration for Jill and the Animals Asia team. They have a very tough job, but they are making real progress because their approach is non-confrontational and they work with the local authorities, not against them." Ever the professional, this delightful, talented performer barely batted an eyelid when her suite at the InterContinenal in Kowloon was taken over by Jill, Libby, Annie (our Head of Media), Henry (the cameraman) and a lighting operator – not to mention a ton of equipment. Sipping a cup of herbal tea between takes, Olivia patiently repeated her lines over and over to ensure we had five different usable versions for broadcast in HK, Australia, NZ, the US and UK. So a huge thank you to Olivia, who, as Jill said, "didn’t just agree to make the announcement – she offered!". www.animalsasia.org Karen Mok On a sunny afternoon in March 2004, Asia’s Top Pop Diva Karen Mok (Mok Mun Wai) visited the Moon Bear Rescue Centre to the delight and excitement of staff and press alike! Last year, whilst on a sellout tour in China, Karen read about the work of Animals Asia in rescuing tortured Moon Bears from bear farms. As an animal lover, Karen immediately contacted Jill and volunteered to help promote the programme. On her arrival, Jill introduced Karen to Andrew, our three-legged mascot who (as ever) enjoyed being fed his favourite: honey! Karen and Jill then watched the handicapped bears play in their “Rehab Garden” and walked to the bamboo sanctuary….on the way, Karen was shocked at the sight at the medieval empty cages and the metal jackets that the 2 newly rescued bears had worn. At a press conference, Jill officially appointed Karen the first Animals Asia China Bear Rescue Ambassador and presented her with a Special Certificate and teddy bear souvenir. Karen presented Jill with a very generous cheque for USD5,000/HKD38,388 (symbolic in Chinese for “good wishes for a lifetime of fortune”.) During question time in front of over 8 TV cameras and 7 print media, Karen was asked: 'why, out of all the desperately needy people and issues in China, why had she chosen to support the China Bear Rescue?' Karen answered from the heart, she simply said that 'from the moment that she heard about the bears, her spirit had told her that she had to become involved'. Jill thanked Karen for her generous donation and stated that with Karen’s help, more people will become aware of the cruelty of bear bile extraction in China and the work of China Bear Rescue, which is crucial for Animals Asia to ultimately end bear farming in China. Karen expressed her gratitude for the work of Animals Asia, and called for a boycott of bear bile products and her hope that bear farming will end – she emphasised that this is just the beginning of her support. Karen is a huge star in Asia, aside from being voted 2004’s Number One Female Singer at the MTV Asia Awards, Karen is famous for being an extremely charismatic actress – thank you Karen, we and the bears are honoured that you have chosen to support us! www.animalsasia.org Jackie Chan www.animalsasia.org Paul McCartney 28/11/2005 27/11/2005 15/09/2005 Heather Mills Link to Heathes Mills official site:Dog & Cat Fur Trade http://www.heathermills.org/campaign_dogcatfur.php http://www.heathermills.org/news.php?id=22