Want China Times, Xinhua 2013-08-11
Bears in captivity at the Guizhen Church black bear breeding base in southeastern China's Fujian province. (Photo/CNS) |
Eight
Chinese pharmacy chains announced on Thursday that they have stopped selling
bear bile products, as they joined a campaign launched by an animal charity to
end controversial bear farming.
The eight
chains, with 151 drugstores in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan
province, issued the statement at an activity held by the Animals Asia
Foundation.
Overall,
260 drugstores of 11 chains across the country have joined the AAF campaign to
stop such sales. The eight local chains included Chengdu Dahua Pharmacy, Furong
Grand Pharmacy and Chengdu Grand Pharmacy.
Bear bile
is held in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory as a cure for ailments
such as eye and liver problems, but the brutal practice of tapping bile from
live bears has drawn much criticism in recent years from animal rights
activists and the public.
Zhong
Yuanwei, vice general manager of Chengdu Dahua, said the business endorsed the
AAF campaign to shoulder its social and environmental responsibilities as well
as to ensure the health of customers.
Medical
practitioners, including many TCM doctors, have expressed doubt about the
safety of bear bile, whose extraction process inflicts so much pain and damage
to bears' health that they are often left fatally ill.
"Brutal
bile extraction violates the idea of TCM of seeking harmony between man and
nature. Besides, it can be replaced by many herbs that are similar in effect
but cheaper," said veteran TCM doctor Liu Zhengcai.
Liu said
the use of bear bile could not be found in most TCM classics, suggesting it has
never figured prominently in medical practices in China.
Medical
uses of bear parts have a long history in China but have faced mounting
opposition in recent years thanks to rising animal welfare awareness among the
public. Last year, a renowned bear bile producer abandoned its IPO application
amid a groundswell of condemnation.
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