Be kind to animals!

WARNING: This blog entry is of a serious nature, so if you find this topic disturbing, you might want to stop reading after this paragraph. For those who prefer to read more funny blog posts, don't worry...I'll be back with a less serious blog post soon.

For those who are still interested, read on.

Once in awhile, the opportunity comes along where I'm asked to donate time or money to a worthy cause. Sometimes I get involved; sometimes I don't.

One thing I always tell people in the U.S. is that no matter what problems they see here, those same kind of problems are typically 10x or 100x worse in south Asia and nations that are considered at the poverty level. In 2005, a massive Earthquake -- measuring a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale -- hit northeastern Pakistan. According to Wikipedia, it's believed to be the 14th most destructive earthquake of all time, which left more than 80,000 people dead and over 3.5 million people homeless right when that region was heading into Winter (cold temperatures!). Oct 8 this year (today) marks the 4 year anniversary of that quake. At the time that it occurred, different organizations accepted donations for blankets and tents to go to the relief effort. A local California charity organization also organized efforts to send containers full of much-needed goods (clothes, blankets, etc) to that region.

The other day, I stumbled across another opportunity like this -- a charitable organization that needs help to fight animal cruelty. I hate giving bad press to south Asia, but...I recently learned that some areas of south Asia participate in bear dancing and bear baiting. I have to admit that I was doubtful that it was really happening, especially since I've travelled (multiple times!) to south Asia and have never heard of these things happening. To get to the bottom of it, I contacted someone at World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the organization that's helping with this issue.

According to WSPA:

WSPA-funded research suggests approximately 150 bears in India are currently living out their days dragged from village to village ‘dancing’ for audiences.

This number has dropped from 400 in recent years, but the remaining bears are enduring a lifetime of physical and mental distress. Illegally poached as cubs, even their most basic needs, such as adequate nutrition, are not met.

Each young bear will suffer the piercing of their nose or palate. A rope is passed through the raw wound. Tugging on it remains an effective means of control throughout the bear’s life.
Years of conditioning allows owners to make adult bears ‘dance’ on command.

...

Bear dancing does happen in India and Pakistan, however WSPA’s work on eradicating bear dancing is currently being conducted in India. Our work in Pakistan is focused on eradicating bear baiting, and the results of this work will likely have a positive impact on reducing the numbers of bears that can be used for bear dancing.

WSPA is asking for donations to help end this practice and to support other animal welfare programs. They're also "working with local groups to work with authorities to prevent occurrences of these activities" (sic). WSPA encourages supporters to sign their Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW), which is an agreement among people and nations to recognize that animals are sentient and can suffer, to respect their welfare needs and to end animal cruelty – for good.

I also found some information about bear dancing on the PETA website, which includes a way to contact environmental ministers of Pakistan and India. (Incidentally...I'm not really a good candidate to be a PETA member/supporter since I love to eat meat...but I digress.)

As I said before, I hate giving bad press to south Asia, but...if by posting a blog entry about this topic has educated even just one person or saved one bear, then I guess that's the trade off.

**In light of the recent FTC ruling that addresses blogs/blogging (in case it's relevant), for the record, I didn't receive any compensation from PETA or WSPA for mentioning this on my blog.

... The FTC will require that writers on the Web clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products...