21 October 2006

Cruelty to Animals

Animal Asia Foundation are an organisation trying to stop cruelty to animals in Asia and espeically trying to close down "animal entertainment parks" such as this one in Shanghai who promote Animal Olympics.

Animal Asia is encouraging people to write a polite letter voicing your concerns and calling for urgent legislation to protect all animals from cruelty and abuse. They ask that you send your letter to your local China National Tourist Office and your local Chinese Embassy.


They explain that personal letters are the most effective, or they have a sample letter...


Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you to express my concerns and horror at the recent "Animal Olympics" held at the Shanghai Wild Animal Park.

Cruel and archaic events such as these reflect poorly upon modern China and serve only to tar your international image. The use of animals for entertainment is being phased out in many countries as more and more people recognise the suffering and misery of life in captivity for performing animals.

In the light of the upcoming 2008 Beijing "Green Olympics", it is truly tragic that facilities such as these are still in existence. I urge you to do all that you can to encourage the Chinese Government to implement comprehensive legislation to protect both wild and domestic animals from all forms of abuse.

I look forward to hearing of positive changes in the immediate future.

Yours truly,


All letters can be emailed. The email address for the China National Tourist office in Sydney is sydney@cnta.gov.cn and the China Emabassy email address is chinaemb_au@mfa.gov.cn For my friends in Hong Kong, the China National Tourist office email address is 'th@hkta.org' and the China Embassy email address for your home country can be found through this link.

I am asking that my family and friends send letters because the animals can't speak for themselves.

Animals Asia have been successful in getting Disney to drop Shark's Fin Soup at Hong Kong Disneyland. Unfortunately they were not able to stop the Bullfighting event held in Shanghai but based on their protests it was not a success for the event organisers.

I hope you support this cause!

An Update: I received an email today saying that we were successful in having the Animal Olympic's cancelled - YAY!!! They will also be asking if the park can now provide a permanent home for the poor blind bear that was forced to stand for hours at a time while tourists posed with him for photographs. Thank you anyone who took the time to write a letter... obviously my letters helped the cause.

No comments: