Hackers, protesters, and more than 70 Chinese celebrities, including Yao Ming, are opposing an initial public offering made by a Chinese company called Guizhentang Pharmaceutical, whose key ingredient is bear bile. The bile is cruelly "milked" by inserting tubes in the animals abdomens three times a day, "sometimes for years," reports The New York Times.The bears’ teeth are invariably worn down from gnawing on the bars of their cages and their feet are often in pitiful shape because few of the animals have ever walked on the ground. “The catalog of abuse they’ve endured is appalling,” Ms. Field said.If you haven't already hopped a plane to Shenzen sporting a bear suit and a heavy heart, here's the backstory: The bile is used in traditional remedies said to "shrink gallstones, reduce fevers and sooth the aftereffects of excessive drinking." To sell more hangover cures, Guizhentang wanted to use the IPO money to increase its stock of captive bears from 400 up to 1,200....MORE
And as a pull quote, words I never thought I put on the blog:
...Supporters of bear bile farming are even running a "pro-bile public relations campaign," suggesting that animal welfare advocates are in the pocket of Western medicine....
