Do you agree with majestic Moon Bears suffering years on horrific of bile farms for patients using TCM to cure impotency, among other things?

There are many non profit organisations working tirelessly to raise awareness and funds. This means, they are working to get your attention and your money, for causes they believe in and want you to stand up and take action for; save the waves, the beaches, rainforests, whales, the dolphins, polar bears, seals, hell, even caged chickens and street dogs.

How can we choose which cause/s to support? More importantly, what will happen to our planet if we don't support them, and choose to just shun them altogether?

If you have a heart, or any care in the world, there should be some causes you'll find you just have to fight for, while others, though they may get your attention, will naturally slip off your radar. We are only human after all.

photos from animalasia.org

If there is one cause I can't ignore it is animal cruelty and it is happening every day in massive numbers all over the world. That is why I love organisations like Animal Asia Foundation. They are on the ground in China and Vietnam saving beautiful Asiatic Black Bears, a.k.a. Moon Bears, from the horrific practice of bile farming. Moon bears, named because of the golden moon shaped crescent on their chest, are listed in the most critical category of International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).

"In the 1980's enterprising businessmen realised they could make far more money by caging (rather than killing) the bears and milking them for their bile. Sadly the bears are such stoic animals that they are able to endure this treatment for many years." Animals Asia.

These bears suffer up to 25 years in tiny cages where their bile is continually extracted through processes that usually involve rusty catheters or seeping open wounds, a technique known as "free-dripping." The bile extraction methods used are gruesome, cruel and unnecessary and leave the bears in terrible agony.

Bile is a body fluid; a digestive juice produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder. It has been used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), to remove heat from the body, treat high temperatures, liver complaints, even sore eyes and impotency. The sad thing is that there are more than 50 herbal alternatives as well as a synthetic option which is easily manufactured in a laboratory. Both options are far cheaper and much easier to come by.

In China the bears' cages are no bigger than their own bodies. Some of the bears that have been rescued from bear bile farms are so ill, with diseased livers and gall bladders that according to Animals Asia, the bile is often contaminated with pus, blood, tissue, even cancer cells and faeces. "A healthy bear's bile should be watery and bright yellow" – the bile these bears were described as producing was "black sludge".

To add to this, recent reports published in Vietnam reveal that "people are now dying of liver and kidney disease after consuming bear bile - and some people taking it for 'increasing sexual strength' are now impotent." International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Traditional medicine is about being in harmony with nature; collecting bile from infected wounds of physically and mentally sick bears is far from being harmonious. The good news is Chinese authorities, Traditional Medicine Colleges and Clinics, as well as the public, are acting out in a way never seen before. The sad news is "today more than 11,000 intelligent Moon Bears are trapped on brutal farms across China and Vietnam," according to Animals Asia.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) sent researchers to 11 bile farms and according to the Humane Society of the US bears were found "moaning, banging their heads against their cages, and chewing their own paws."

To make more profit from bear farming, bear bile is also made into other products such as toothpaste, wine, shampoo and power drinks. It is sold legally in China but much of it enters black markets throughout Asia and communities in the West.

The reality is money is needed urgently to continue rescuing more bears, and building sanctuaries to house and rehabilitate them, so an urgent priority is of course fundraising. However, if you can't donate, then you can join a support group and help with fundraising. Through Animals Asia you can sponsor a bear, hold a fundraising event, write a letter to your nearest Chinese embassy, or even distribute leaflets. Visit Animals Asia www.animalsasia.org.

There are lots of ways you can become an Animal Rights Defender. Besides the many organisations you can join, you can be one every day by purchasing wisely and telling your friends too; be a compassionate shopper and consumer, and buy products labelled "cruelty free". And never visit circuses or zoos that have performing wild animals. These majestic wild animals – bears, tigers, elephants - are caged and chained, and whipped and beaten into performing these tricks for your entertainment.

So keep an open mind at all times. With a change in consciousness already in action we are beginning to see great things happen to protect and preserve our precious planet.

It's time for you to join the fight!!!

written by: Grace Gutwein