New Year resolution
Sir: This week the Chinese people celebrate their New Year. It is to be fervently hoped that the Republic of China will make a res- olution for the year ahead. At present there are nearly 8,000 `moonbears' kept in dread- ful captivity on 'farms' all over China. They are 'farmed' in order to extract their bile for use in Chinese medicine. This involves keeping them in small cages for up to 15 years during which time crude metal catheters are inserted daily to extract the bile, a process which causes them agony. This inhumane practice, against which the International Fund for Animals in the Wild are valiantly campaigning, must cease immediately. These beautiful creatures should not be subjected to treatment of this kind. I trust the Chinese government recog- nises this and will take early action.
The Dowager Marchioness of Reading
Glebe Farm House, Cornwell, Oxfordshire
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