We are NOT the official Animals Asia but we are the official Lancashire branch in the UK to help this charity, please click the banner below to visit the Animals Asia official site to see all the fantastic work they are doing. Animals Asia Foundation is a Hong Kong-based government-registered animal welfare charity founded by Jill Robinson MBE in 1998. www.animalsasia.org It also has charitable status in UK, USA, Germany and Australia with donations being tax-deductible in these countries. It has additional offices in China. Jill Robinson had been drawn to animals from early in her childhood in Nottingham, England. Not allowed to keep pets till her teens, she would sneak field mice home and release them in the garden. With no dog at home she offered to walk neighbors' dogs so she could spend time with them. She hoped to be a vet, but her school results weren't good enough and she worked as a secretary until she married an airline pilot, setting up home with him in Hong Kong. There she worked as an assistant to a neighbor, David Dawson, who was Asia coordinator of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. She went with him on field trips to South Korea, China and the Philippines, investigating the wild animal trade and the food trade in cat and dog meat. Working with Dawson taught her a key lesson: making a fuss about a problem didn't change much. To really improve the conditions for animals it was essential to understand local culture and win the understanding and involvement of local people. To save the bears Jill faced three formidable challenges: First: bear farming was encouraged by the Chinese government. To succeed she would have to persuade high-level officials to reverse their policies. As a Western woman could she persuade them even to listen to her? Second: bear bile was a highly prized ingredient of Chinese medicine. She would have to learn enough about Chinese medicine to seek out acceptable substitutes. Third: the captive bears couldn't just be released in the wild. Many, maybe even thousands of bears would need care for the rest of their lives: she needed land for a sanctuary and the funds to maintain it. Then came a stroke of luck. Jill received a phone call from a friend of businessman and politician David Chu, who had been disturbed by the news reports and might be able to help. Soon Jill was sitting at a lunch table at Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club with Sally Banks, wife of Tony Banks, an IFAW supporter and British MP. When Chu arrived, he was friendly but straight to the point. "What do you want to do?" he asked. Jill said she was looking for land in China to establish a sanctuary for rescued bears. Chu, an animal lover, was moved by Jill's concern for the bears. He wasn't hopeful the monolithic Chinese government would reverse policies promoting bear farming, but he was able to offer some practical help. "I've got land - you can have that," he said. Jill and Sally stared at each other in amazement. Chu also said he was an honorary advisor to the government-affiliated China Wildlife Conservation Association and could arrange contacts. Jill left the club elated. Now she had the beginning of a solution for two of her main obstacles. But what of the third? Could she persuade traditional Chinese medicine practitioners to adopt substitute ingredients? She had sometimes visited traditional Chinese medicine stores and found tiger paws, rhino horns and other ingredients from endangered species. She had assumed it was just quack medicine. Jill flew to Seattle to attend a conference on the use of bear derivatives in Chinese medicine. Bear bile was by far the most important of these - speakers reported on it being used in treating a range of ailments, including life-threatening cancers, and serious liver problems. Robinson also heard that bears are the only mammals producing significant amounts of a particular bile acid, a synthetic version of which is used in the West for treating illnesses including gallstones. She saw potential for replacing bear bile when an acupuncturist said pig bile could be used instead. But there were setbacks, too. During the conference, a Korean bear farmer - his farm, like others in Korea, in limbo after protests from animal rights groups - told one Western conservationist, "You are all racists!" Robinson felt this smeared her too - unfairly after her years in Asia. One Chinese official said he wanted trade in bear bile to expand. Jill's heart sank. Back in Hong Kong, Robinson joined a meeting organized by Earthcare, an animal welfare and environmentalists group, during which several Chinese doctors showed her some of the herbs they used, and explained some of the principles involved. To her relief, she was told animal ingredients could be replaced with herbs. By now Chu made the promised introductions, and Robinson began to meet with officials from the China Wildlife Conservation Association. They were reserved at first but with patience and persistence Jill gradually warmed them to her ideas. Soon she had won over the Hong Kong-based Association of Chinese Medicine and Philosophy, as well. Earthcare was sympathetic from the start. There was a promise that Robinson and Dawson could inspect farms in three provinces. A sanctuary with roomy pens and an outdoor enclosure was meanwhile being built on Chu's land in Guangdong Province. Now Jill was ready to try the third of her three challenges: to try and rehabilitate captive bears. When officials closed the two farms Jill had visited, they handed nine bears to her and her newly-formed bear rescue team. Though one bear was in such terrible shape that they had to euthanize it, the other eight survived surgery to remove their implants and began recovering. It was a gratifying start. Eight bears had been rescued. But there were still thousands of farm bears in China. She kept meeting with China Wildlife Conservation Association officials including secretary-general Wang Fuxing. They started to use a phrase "animal welfare", which she had been told there were no words for in Chinese. But by now she had run into an unexpected snag. While she and Dawson had visited farms in two provinces, the promised visit to a third province proved elusive. Finally, Jill headed to Beijing for another meeting. She faced a trio of officials including Wang Fuxing and launched into an angry but controlled speech. Wang listened in silence. Jill continued, wondering what the response would be. Wang smiled and said, "I am very touched by your words, and I promise you I will work with the government to have things arranged." Meanwhile, Jill had left IFAW to establish the Animals Asia Foundation with its chief operations in Asia and fund raising and education bases in Germany, Australia and the UK, which she believed would have more credibility in Asia and accelerate decision-making. Wang delivered his promises. Jill was taken to farms in Sichuan Province. Though she was concerned the visit might be sanitized, she was free to talk with farmers. The Sichuan visit led to the first agreement on animal welfare that a non-governmental organization has yet signed with the Chinese government. The actual signing of the agreement was a simple affair, between people who were now friends. Jill flew to Beijing and headed to the association's office. Here, Jill and Wang Fujing sat on the settee, drinking tea and chatting. Then, Wang - who was beaming throughout - related the history of the agreement, and the reasons for it. Jill followed with a short, simple speech. She and Wang then sat at a desk, where each signed and chopped four copies of the agreement. Goals included the rescue of 500 bears from Sichuan farms that would be closed within the next two to five years. The TV advert with Olivia Newton-John is being played all across Australia and Asia www.animalsasia.org Sections In Who is AAF? UK Office UK Office 3 Ashleigh Meadow Tregondale Farm, Menheniot Cornwall PL14 3RG UK Tel: 01579 347148 Fax: 01579 347343 Email: info@animalsasia.org Registered charity No. 1086903 JILL ROBINSON AND DAVID NEALE UK DIRECTOR PULL A PINT OF "JOLLY JASPER BEAR" AT THE BEARTOWN BREWERY IN CONGLETON www.animalsasia.org