Promoting Herbal Alternatives
Recent polls conducted in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong China by IFAW and AAF confirmed that a majority of the Chinese public is opposed to using medicine obtained through methods that are cruel to animals. Bear farming was condemned by 62.8 percent of the people polled, and 70.5 percent would refuse to use bear bile. Eighty-five percent would prefer plant products that are just as effective. In Hong Kong China, 93 percent of those polled thought bear farming was cruel.
IFAW is working with the Chinese government, the
Chinese Association of Medicine and Philosophy, AAF, and EarthCare to close more
farms, and to provide enrichment for bears still in captivity. Our ultimate goal
is to eliminate bear farming altogether. To facilitate this, IFAW and AAF
launched a “Cruelty Doesn’t Cure” campaign to reduce the use of all animal
products in Traditional Medicine. This campaign encourages TM practitioners to
replace preparations containing animal ingredients with non-endangered plant
substitutes. Thousands of doctors and practitioners worldwide have already
signed on to the initiative.
We are also working with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing to fund a single herbal or synthetic alternative to bear bile that can be used universally.
We are also working with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Beijing to fund a single herbal or synthetic alternative to bear bile that can be used universally.
;)
Grace Gabriel, second from right, IFAW Deputy Director for Wildlife Habitat Protection, helps to remove an iron vest from a sedated moon bear. Photo © IFAW/S. Gabriel
