I met Jill Robinson!
Dear Rinpoche,
May I share some of what I learnt from attending Miss Jill Robinson’s presentation in August, 2011. She is a truly remarkable and inspiring person.
I learnt a lot from her presentation which was truly inspiring. She started by working for Animal Welfare based in Hong Kong and subsequently founded Animals Asia after a chance encounter with a captive moon bear in China. The incident inspired her to start a campaign to save them from the horrendous conditions they were kept in for as many as thirty years while their bile was harvested from them. Her passionate for her work is very evident and she speaks with great conviction and optimism despite all the obstacles that she faces every day. She shows great compassion and exudes a warmth and optimism. Despite all that she has seen and experienced in China there is no sense of condemnation of the people, just a realization that they need to have more awareness of the alternatives to bear farming. It seems to have strengthened her resolve to stamp out the cruel practice of bear bile farming through education and information. The following points were presented during her talk:
- She is working closely with Chinese scientists who have developed equally effective drugs from plants that are a perfect alternative to bear bile. This information is disseminated through medical conferences for Chinese medicine where Chinese medical practitioners are informed of the plant alternatives to bear bile.
- She stressed that support from the locals have been the key to the success of their work. It was considered the most effective method of changing public attitudes towards animal cruelty was through active participation of the local Chinese themselves. This was clearly illustrated in the change in attitude of the workers at the bear sanctuary. What was initially a job became a labor of love.
- In addition to the rescue of captive moon Bears, her organization is involved with rescue of cats and dogs that were slotted for the meat trade. Rescued dogs and cats are neutered and the cats are released back into the community. There has been a change in attitude towards the treatment of cats and dogs by the Chinese public as evidenced by the cooperation from the community in gathering the cats and dogs for neutering. The locals are actively involved in the rescue of cats and dogs. Jill mentions that there is a groundswell movement from the Chinese themselves to stop inhumane treatment of animals. . Public protests (something that was unheard of until very recently in Communist China) by the Chinese population to stop inhumane treatment of animals have become more common. Rescued dogs are used as Ambassadors for the organization. They have been used for education purposes in campaigns like Professor Paws, a program to teach children to learn English.
She then showed many slides of the terrible conditions that the bears were kept in these farms. There are at least 7,000 bears in captivity in China alone and currently she has the Chinese government’s approval to rescue four hundred bears. This is done by paying the “farmer” to give up his bear farm by paying him a sum of money to permanently close his farm. The license to harvest bear bile is surrendered permanently and the Chinese Government no longer issues new licenses for bear bile farming. The bears are then surrendered to Jill’s organization for rehabilitation. To illustrate we are shown slides of the Chinese staff bringing the bears that had to be put down for rehabilitation. These bears are given a complete check up to determine their physical condition and the necessary steps taken to get them back into good physical condition. Unfortunately many bears were in such bad condition and beyond help that they have to be put down humanely. Ms. Robinson admits that she is increasingly no longer willing to pay for the permanent closure of these farms as many of these existing farms are wealthy. She is rethinking better strategies for the closure of the existing farms possibly through education and garnering public support against such practices.
She is extremely proud of the bear sanctuary in Chengdu which is the organization’s pride of accomplishment. A new sanctuary was opened in Vietnam with the blessing of the Vietnamese government to stem the illegal practice of bear bile farming in the region. There is clearly still a lot of work needed to end the practice in China and funds needed to continue with the work in Vietnam and elsewhere.
You are right Rinpoche to say that I am too comfortable in my own little world. I should do more to end the suffering of animals. Meeting Ms Robinson has opened my eyes to what one person can do to inspire help for the helpless that suffer unnecessarily for the empty pleasures of us humans.
I presented Miss Robinson with the book 108 ways to Grab my Apples and she was genuinely touched. I told her about Kechara and of course Your Eminence’s work in saving animals. I also expressed interest in visiting the bear sanctuary. I will be in contact with her office in New York to see if I can make arrangements to visit one of the sanctuaries on my trip back to KL in October.
With much love and humbly your student,
Yee Ling
You should find out more on the compassionate and courageous work of Jill Robinson please see here.
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Dear Rinpoche, I feel so sad for the animals that are being tortured before death and then turned into meat. In China, they treat almost every single animal is a type of medicine or food. I’ve watched a video about killing and eating dog meat, the chef/owner said that he likes to kill the dog slowly so that the meat will taste better. I mean what is he thinking about.
It’s very kind of Jill! Through her actions, she has proved that she does care about animals. What she did for the animals are truly inspiring! She spent most of the time on helping the animals, which I don’t think much people will do that. Thank You for sharing such a wonderful news with us Ms. Yee Ling!
Jill Robison is such an inspiring woman. She worked hard to save the bears and animals. If there are more people out there like her , there will be less suffering for the animals. Animals are helpless, they cannot talk or express themselves. As humans, we should help to alleviate their sufferings and push ourselves in one way or another with our involvement in helping to save the animals.
Its very kind what Jill is doing for animals. Especially when the animals that cannot say thank you back. Its truly an act of kindess if you are kind to animals. No mater what kind of animals. So please be kind to them. Animals do that need the pain.
This is inspiring, for a lady with such passion. She just did it without looking back and pushed all the way working to save bears. What an inspiring story of her involvement in working to save animals!
Dear Ms. Ling,
Thank you for writing this article that has given me much hope hearing about the work of Jill Robinson, and your meeting together.
Through the frustration and suffering I experienced for their plight,I had only believed the best outcome was their extinction one day. I never dreamed to hear good news for these poor bears. Thank you again for sharing. Very positive.
One encounter with the moon bear got Jill Anderson working tirelessly on a mission. This sounds a lot like the “dharma seed” that we learned in Buddhism. When the condition is right, the seed ripen and there is how we start to learn more dharma and tirelessly serving others. Jill Anderson has achieved a spectacular result. Her compassion to animals are unquestionable. I am sure her journey is not easy, the heart ache and pain along the way to know that there are still many bears being tortured and die everyday.. But none of this bring her down, she fights harder and becoming stronger by the day. Amazing quality!
Thankyou Yee Ling to make the effort to connect with someone so well respected. By you representing Kechara, you bring our compassion along with you to share with the world. Kecharians can do so much. Thankyou for sharing and take care. We will see you very soon 🙂
Thank you Yee Ling for your story. May your Dharma grow like how your mind have…
Dear Old Pal,
Thanks for sharing.
You are still fit, smart and knowledgeable .Like Rinpoche said – move out of your little comfortable nest and make full use of your potential !
See you soon.
Love, Yoke Fui
i don’t know what else to add, but i just want to say that this is something very worthwhile to share; if it has managed to make me think more deeply what real compassion (in action) is, it will surely help others change their mindsets too. People need to know wonderful people like Ms Jill Robinson and be inspired – i hope the people will at least learn to be kinder then. Well, they might stop using folk medicine or stop consuming food/clothing obtained through unethical treatment of animals! Thank you, Yee Ling, for sharing!
Yee Ling thanks for sharing this news with us it is inspiring to read about this great lady Jill Anderson. And she really is amazing to overcome public opinion of the Chinese and I think one of the key of her success is her willingness to work with the locals. She is not like an international NGO that tells the local people ‘we should do it this way’ or ‘I am right and you are wrong’. Many NGOS have failed miserably with such an attitude.
I really like to read about who can overcome no matter what and they never take ‘NO’ for an answer. And she is very wise to engage with the Chinese Government amicably.