As lots of you know we have been collecting and selling second hand books of any spiritual nature for many years. It was the chosen charity of our beautiful Rosemary Lomax. A dear friend, a reader and member of our Destiny Rising tribe from the day we opened back in 1998 lots of you will remember her fondly as we certainly do.
Many of you donate your books to us, which we are always thankful for and lots of you purchase them which is great!
But how much do you know about this charity?
Animals Asia was founded by an incredible woman called Jill Robinson, who has dedicated her life to the welfare of animals across the globe. Releasing and trying to save the lives of the tortured Moon Bears, known by that name due to the white crescent moon on their chests. Beautiful big bears kept for their life times so cruelly in small cages with tubes protruding from their stomachs to collect their bile daily for so called medicinal remedies.
Jill has tirelessly fought with governments and farmers across Asia to educate and change laws. She has set up many sanctuary’s and teams of vets and helpers to support her life’s mission to change
these horrific practises that are taken for granted in China and still rife in these parts of the world. Her mission has been and still is to release caged animals, reverse barbaric operations that have been carried out on these beautiful animals and save as many as she can and give them a life without torture and some peace and happiness for whatever life they have left.
The videos on the web site of the released bears that have survived, playing in their sanctuary’s is just the most heart warming vision.
Jill Robinson has in the last few years turned her attention to the dogs and cats and other animals of Asia who in turn are treated so grotesquely that I won’t go into it here. But without the knowledge of what goes on in this world to helpless animals with no voice is the only way that they have one!
Jill and her selfless team of dedicated folk are their voices. All of this she does by way of donations.
Below is some info about Animals Asia. If you are an animal lover please take a look at their website There is a ‘Get Involved’ tab on their web site if you feel there is something that you might be able to do and would like to help, there are many options of ways to get involved.
Please also check out Jill’s Blog page, there’s some very revealing information as she sees it first hand from China about how to prevent the next pandemic, powerful stuff! And as I see it, it’s about all of us taking a stand and getting involved in some way. Every single one of us can make a small difference and collectively that becomes huge!
Jill and her team have fearlessly continued their work throughout the pandemic in China and I’m sure could do with some extra help in whatever small way is possible. We have plenty of second hand books in the shop at the moment, so instead of buying new, please check out our Animals Asia book shelf, every little penny counts and you will be saving yourself too. Please keep reading…
Love Dana x
Who We Are
About Us:
Animals Asia is devoted to ending bear bile farming and improving the welfare of animals across Asia. We promote compassion and respect for all animals and work to bring about long-term change.
Founded in 1998, the Animals Asia team has been rescuing bears since 1994. We operate award winning bear rescue sanctuaries in China and Vietnam, and we are the only organisation with a bear sanctuary in China. Our founder and CEO, Jill Robinson MBE, Dr.med.vet. h.c., Hon LLD is widely recognised as the world’s leading authority on the cruel bear bile industry, having campaigned against it since 1993.
Our work focuses on three major programmes:
End Bear Bile Farming
Animals Asia works to end the bear bile trade, which sees over 10,000 bears – mainly moon bears but also sun bears and brown bears – kept on bile farms across Asia. It has rescued more than 600 bears from the industry since it was established.
After years of cooperation, Animals Asia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Vietnam Government to completely End Bear Bile Farming in Vietnam by 2022. This includes rescuing and rehoming approximately 600 bears that remain on farms in Vietnam, where bear bile farming is illegal.
In China, we also have consensus from the authorities to work towards the ending of the trade, allowing us to operate two bear rescue facilities in Chengdu and Nanning. We continue to work with the farmers, the government, traditional medical associations and community to build trust and awareness around the animal welfare issues associated with the trade, highlight the dangers that consumption of wildlife products like bear bile present to humans, and promote the use of synthetic and plant based substitutes to bear bile as a more humane alternative.
Cat and Dog Welfare
Animals Asia works to end the trade in dogs and cats for food in Asia, collaborates with governments and NGO's to improve the welfare of companion animals, and promotes humane population management.
Captive Animal Welfare
Animals Asia campaigns for an end to abusive animal practices in zoos and safari parks in Southeast Asia, and works closely with governing authorities and facilities to improve animal management and increase awareness of the welfare needs of captive wild animals.
Vision, mission and values
Our approach
Change through empathy:
We work with animal ambassadors who embody the ideal that empathy for one animal can evolve into empathy for an entire species and ultimately for all species.
Negotitaion:
We take a non-partisan, sensitive approach in working with governments, authorities, experts and local communities. We work with, not against, people to find sustainable solutions for all parties.
Education:
We inform and empower local communities for the welfare of animals and people, promoting change at the grass-roots level. We promote alternatives to animal products for use in traditional medicine through our Healing without Harm campaign.
Investigation:
We work with vet and bear-care teams, field officers and a network of research scientists, university students, pathologists and traditional medicine doctors to investigate the bear bile industry, the trade in cats and dogs for their meat, and cruelty to animals in captivity – and use this knowledge to fight against these practices.
Our locations
Animals Asia is a registered charity with bear sanctuaries in China and Vietnam, headquarters in Hong Kong, and offices in Australia, China, Germany, Italy, the UK, USA and Vietnam. We have a total of 303 staff, with 252 based in China and Vietnam, 28 in our Hong Kong headquarters and 23 across our other offices.
Jill Robinson MBE
Jill heads Animals Asia's team of over 300 enthusiastic staff. She divides her time between mainland China, Vietnam and Hong Kong, and travels frequently around the world to give presentations at conferences and speak at fundraising events.
A hands-on leader, Jill is involved in all major decision-making. She works with the vet and bear teams during rescues and health checks and advises closely on construction projects. She visits dog and cat markets and zoos and safari parks throughout China to document the abuse of animals and over the years has made countless visits to hospitals and homes for the elderly with her own and Animals Asia's animal-therapy dogs.
She writes her own blog, her own speeches and presentations, is a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines and a frequent guest on radio and TV shows. She has also co-written a children's book about moon bears and co-written a number of scientific papers with Animals Asia's vet teams.
Born in the UK, Jill arrived in Hong Kong in 1985 and spent 12 years working in Asia as a consultant for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Repeatedly faced with scenes of widespread animal cruelty, she decided to introduce the concept of "animal welfare through people welfare" and founded Dr Dog in Hong Kong in 1991 – the first animal-therapy programme in Asia.
Jill founded Animals Asia in 1998 – five years after an encounter with a caged bear on a farm in southern China changed her life forever. Learning that bear bile could be replaced by herbs, she vowed to put an end to bear bile farming. Since then, Animals Asia has rescued over 530 bears in China and Vietnam.
In 2010, both Animals Asia's China and Vietnam rescue centres were awarded the Carole Noon Award for Sanctuary Excellence and in 2014 they were accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries – the only sanctuaries in China and Vietnam to have received this honour.
Jill is a Council Member of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) Herbal Committee and her outstanding contribution to animal welfare has been recognised with a number of awards. In 1995, she won the "Reader's Digest" Hero for Today award. In 1998, she was made an MBE by Queen Elizabeth of England. In 2008, she was named "Outstanding Earth Champion" in Hong Kong and was appointed World Animal Day Ambassador for Asia. In 2010, she was one of 12 recognised foreigners given the "You Bring Charm to China" award.
Jill received an honorary doctorate in veterinary science from the University of Zurich, Switzerland in 2012, and an honorary law degree from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China in 2014.
She shares her home in Hong Kong with her family of rescued dogs, cats and a tortoise.
