Show 'Dancing' Bears That You Really Care
Credit: Written by Tony Burke, and directed
and produced by the award-winning London-based
production company Diamond Bullet Productions.
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No animal should have to "bear" this type of abuse. Never patronize a roadside bear show. When traveling in India and Pakistan, if you see tourists encouraging such a show, speak to them about the cruelty. If you see a bear who is being forced to dance, report the incident to the closest police station.
Even though it is illegal to capture bears in both India and Pakistan, there are still more than 1,600 sloth bears who are being forced to dance for money by madaris (people who capture and keep these bears). Bear cubs who are barely 1 year old squeal in agony as red-hot needles are jabbed through their noses and thick ropes are forced through the throbbing wounds. When the ropes are tugged, the bears lift their legs and "dance." Most of their teeth are pulled out, and they are forced to perform for up to 12 hours a day. Bears are "trained" to dance through a regime of pain and starvation. Many cubs die from the stress caused by capture, the terrible transportation conditions, starvation, dehydration, and rough handling before their training begins. Although they live up to 30 years in the wild, dancing bears rarely live more than eight years in captivity.
Want to help these bears? Besides forwarding this video to everyone you know, you can write to the environmental ministers of Pakistan and India and urge them to enforce laws that prevent "bear-baiting" and to prosecute madaris.
You can also send written correspondence to the addresses below:
Minister Shri Sevugan Regupathy
Honorable Union Minister of Environment & Forests
Government of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road
New Delhi 110 003
Minister Syed Wajid H Bukhari
Honorable Minister of Environment
Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Environment
CDA Block No. IV, Civic Centre, G-6, Melody
Islamabad
Pakistan
Personalized letters always work best. Feel free to use the following text, but your message will carry more weight if you write your own customized message and subject line.
