Animals Asia rescue China and Vietnam's caged Moon Bears, who are kept in appalling conditions, confined to coffin sized cages and milked for their bile.  This process is excruciatingly painful for the bears, and they have no enrichment at all.

They often lose a limb to the trap, or have teeth smashed in and claws pulled out. When they are no longer able to produce bile, they are often left to die of starvation and thirst in their cages.

The milking of bile causes cancer and abcesses in the gall bladder, liver and other organs.  The bile is used in Chinese medicine, even though there is an identical synthetic available.  The bile often contains pus, blood and cancerous cells.

Animals Asia are also committed to stop the practice of killing cats and dogs for their meat.  They are not only a charity, but an educational institution who are working with the Chinese and Vietnamese governments in order to re-educate their people to the plight of their animals.

Their website can be found at www.animalsasia.org.

I befriend two of the bears, Banjo and Mausi.  A few years ago, my sister and I did a sponsored event and raised £100 for them.  I am hoping to raise more this year by having a sponsored tattoo.  I am planning to have a moon bear tattooed on me permanently in exchange for donations. So far I have over £120 in pledges, but I am hoping to raise even more.

Please, if you can, donate some money for the moon bears.  I can accept donations by cheque, or Paypal.  My email address is annette.reynolds@talk21.com