An Interview with Jill Robinson

Jill Robinson was awarded an OBE for her courageous work in China based on the bear-bile issue. Here she speaks to Claudette Vaughan on the three great loves of her life - vegetarian foods, the Asian Moon Bears and the Animals Asia Foundation she founded.

First published in New Vegetarian and Natural Health magazine. Reprinted with kind permission.

How long have you been vegetarian Jill?

I gave up all meat in the early 90s and stopped eating fish, going completely vegetarian in the summer of 2001.

What are some of your favourite foods?

It depends on where I am. In Hong Kong I love pasta and pesto with fresh woodland mushrooms, or the variety of fresh organic salads now available in many of the larger supermarkets. There's fantastic selection these days which makes being a veggie comparatively easy. In Hong Kong fabulous fake meat is sold everywhere, which is scarily like the real thing, but obviously isn't. I have the fried 'chicken' cut up on Caesar salad (minus the anchovies of course!) and I'd challenge anyone to notice the difference. Hong Kong is chock full of excellent restaurants in all price ranges and veggie food is really well accepted and catered for these days - although you need to check the 'stock' in soups etc, but I find it much easier and certainly more enjoyable to eat out there than in the UK or US, for example. In China it's both easy and a challenge. At our China Bear Rescue in Chengdu we can eat wonderful, fresh local vegetables cooked spicy Szechuan style - even the meat eaters in the team go totally veggie when they visit on site. Fabulous stir-fried smoked tofu, and plates of different vegetable dishes with fresh eggplant, beans, mushrooms, corn, shredded potatoes and chillies - all cooked with various local herbs and spices. However, eating out in Chengdu town is another matter unless you go to a strict vegetarian restaurant. Most waiters generally can't even comprehend that no meat means no meat and will offer you stir fried vegetable rice, for example, with little pieces of chopped ham - "it's OK, it's only a little!". Banquets (a must when entertaining officials) are even worse unfortunately - with heaving plates of various unfortunate domestic and wild species and few vegetables. Luckily, the officials we've worked with for a long time now are much more sensitive and will always order heaps of vegetables and actually take time to explain to their colleagues why I don't eat meat. It's strange, really, because generally everyone then agrees at the table that being vegetarian is more healthy - and more forgiving to the animals and planet - but I still don't see too many converts! By the way, our rule for any functions or parties at Animals Asia is there is never any meat served.

What are some of your favourite Australian restaurants?

During the last Animals Asia Roadshow in Australia our Australia Director, Anne Lloyd-Jones, and I were invited out to dinner in Melbourne by our wonderful supporters and friends, Phil and Trix Wollen. They took us to a fabulous vegetarian restaurant called Soulmama's which served amazing food and has a great atmosphere and staff too. In Sydney , the Shangri-La Hotel excelled themselves serving incredible veggie Asian food which Anne and I agreed was about the best we'd ever tasted!! They even catered for vegans and it was all divine - a great example of an establishment catering for those with compassionate tastes!

Tell us about your first rescue, and China Bear Rescue today.

Her name was 'Hong' - at least that was the name I gave to the first bear I ever saw on one of China 's notorious bile extraction farms in 1993. Going undercover and joining a group of Japanese tourists, I broke away from the group and found stairs leading to a basement below the farm. The vision was shocking – held in 'crush' cages, were 32 endangered Asiatic Black Bears - called Moon Bears because of the beautiful yellow crescents on their chests. Nervous 'popping' vocalisations echoed around the room and when I looked at their damaged bodies I knew why they were afraid. Here were animals which had been deliberately de-clawed and had their canine teeth brutally hacked away by the farmer who had taken away their defences to make them easier to 'milk'. Wounds three feet along their bodies from where they had grown into the cage bars, and gaping, infected holes from where crude metal catheters protruded, showed how these gentle, intelligent animals had been milked as machines for their entire lives. At one point I felt something touch my shoulder and spun around to see a bear with her arm stretched through the bars of the cage. Naively I took her paw - and, surprisingly she didn't rip my arm from the socket, but simply squeezed my fingers while our eyes connected in a moment which crossed every barrier of species and understanding. Her message was clear, and while today my overwhelming sorrow is of a bear we couldn't save, Hong – whose name means 'bear' - became the ambassador for a dream which began the China Bear Rescue. Today, our Sanctuary in Szechuan Province , is bursting at the seams with happy, healthy bears who have put their miserable lives on the farms far behind. Following our agreement with the Government Departments of Beijing and Szechuan in July 2000 to rescue 500 bears and work together to end bear farming in China, 39 bear farms have been closed and 139 bears confiscated and placed into our care. November 2003 saw the arrival of another 40 bears, and another 90 or more are due either later this year or early in 2004. Our projects on site are providing 'win win' solutions. Once a farm closes, the farmer returns the original license to Animals Asia and receives compensation for his bears. No new licenses are issued and farmers can never again legally enter this trade. Our Sanctuary creates jobs and salaries for people who previously had no work, sees the purchase of local equipment and materials, as well as the purchase of local food and produce, for bears and people alike. Growing interest is being seen in China itself, following extensive coverage from journalists whose stories are spreading across the country in support of ending bear farming. Our Traditional Chinese Medicine Education Packs are seeing mass circulation to thousands of doctors and students who are now signing on in droves to our escalating campaign, 'Rescue Black Bears - Give up Bear Bile Usage!'. Central to the rescue is the development of education programs which provide a unique opportunity for us to spread a message of respect for all animals, while advancing the concept of animal welfare in China . Admittedly, the road to ending bear farming isn't easy. Today there are over 7,000 bears who are cruelly caged on farms - and still no Central Government policy calling for a final ban. Therefore as the only group rescuing 500 bears and working 'from within', our evidence is crucial in building the case to end a disgraceful and unnecessary industry. With each new investigation of the bear farms, and with each new pitiful arrival on our surgery table requiring anything up to 7 hours of repair, we are proving how the so-called 'good' farms and 'humane' methods of bile extraction are anything but acceptable. The bears, of course, have a special place in our hearts. Victims who arrived violently aggressive and consumed with pain and fear are, today, showing how stoic and truly forgiving this species can be. Ambassadors like gentle three-legged Andrew, fun loving Jasper, mischievous Banjo and sweet elderly Franzi are all proof that miracles do happen. As their health has improved, so too has their confidence - and their eyes have gradually taken on the trusting look of animals who have put their years of torture behind and who understand that life is worth living again.

What is Animals Asia philosophy?

At Animals Asia our belief is simple. By helping the individual bears, we can work towards our higher goal of helping them all as a species and ending bear farming by the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Please tell us about your program, Doctor Dog .

Literally millions of cats and dogs are slaughtered each year for human consumption in markets across Asia . Crammed together in cages without food, water or shade, dogs and cats are routinely beaten to death or boiled alive in the misguided belief that torture equals taste. We believe that culture should not be an excuse for cruelty - and when we are making progress in civilisation, we should also be making progress in our hearts, minds and conscience as well. This was the reason I began Dr Dog in 1991 - to let the dogs themselves show how they can benefit our lives and even improve our health. Today the program sees over 300 'dog doctors' spreading love and warmth to people in need across Hong Kong, China, India, Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines. We are also now putting the finishing touches to a new short film that we have produced called, Dr Eddie: Friend... or Food? which is about our rescued China live animal market dog who now works in Hong Kong as a Dr Dog. The story is told through Eddie's eyes (with voice-overs by famous 'stars' in China and Hong Kong ) and leaves one in no doubt that dogs are our friends and should never be considered as food. We are launching it to the press in China in tandem with our Dr Dog program in September and have high hopes for the impact the film can bring. Most Chinese people have never even considered the concept that dogs can play the role of animal therapists - and we show that dogs and cats are our friends and helpers and even a mongrel waiting to be eaten in a market, given a second chance, can make a wonderful animal therapy. It's a completely fresh approach because, while we know that there are many Chinese people who absolutely abhor dog and cat eating, we understand the need to help them find a voice - which can be achieved through promoting a local film dedicated to the good which dogs can bring to the community. Having seen dog and cat eating die out in Hong Kong and Taiwan , we see no reason that the same can't happen in China . Dr Dog won't end the consumption of dogs and cats tomorrow, or maybe not even in my lifetime, but already it is making it's mark in the community - and perhaps tweaking the conscience of people who would normally judge them as food animals.

What's the way forward for the Moon Bears?

A well-known Chinese saying, "A thousand miles starts with one step", sums up the road for our campaign to bring the unconscionable and unnecessary trade of bear farming to an end. Progress is slowly being made and, in spite of the farmers' statements regarding their new 'humane' farming methods, the government is becoming more knowledgeable about the realities behind the trade today. In May of this year we visited more bear farms with Chinese officials and compiled a comprehensive report showing why even the 'best' bear farms could in no shape or form conform to any acceptable standard of animal welfare or humane care. During the visit I broke down in tears after seeing a shell of an animal which had once been a bear. Almost naked, with sores all over his body, two huge hernias in his abdomen, and a shrunken skeleton of a face - I looked into his dying eyes and said sorry, because there was nothing else I could do or say to help him. The way forward is to show his image - and that of the other pitiful caged and farmed bears - to the world, lest anyone forget why as a species we should all be ashamed for allowing such atrocities to continue.

How can readers help your campaign?

I'm afraid that this isn't an earth shattering revelation. The China Bear Rescue depends on funding to both sustain and accelerate our work in Chengdu . Our running costs at the Sanctuary are now coming in at approximately US$70,000 per month - bears are incredibly expensive mammals to care for, with a life span of 30 years. However, the rewards for working with this intelligent, forgiving species, and the rewards for people who give their faith and support to the rescue are seeing animals who awake each morning with the freedom to simply stretch their limbs - and seeing us one step closer in our journey of a thousand miles towards ending a practice which should never have begun.

For more information: visit the AAF website www.animalsasia.org or call 1800 666 004