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Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.   In February 2002, Jackie & I were fortunate to visit India and saw bears in the wild.  What a fantastic site to see such a huge creature lolling around the hills and forests.  But, we also saw a dancing bear by the side of the road, the owner trying to get tourists to take pictures of it.  What a vast difference there was; this animal was dirty, had no teeth or claws (having had its teeth knocked out with a hammer and its claws ripped out as a cub), its coat was dull, its eyes almost lifeless with a hole drilled through its nose for the chain.   Ever since that time we personally, and Expolink as a company, have donated to two charities (WSPA & IAR) who are both trying to stop (and I’m pleased to say having a lot of success) practices such as:   ·         Dancing Bears – I won’t tell you how they train bears to dance unless you ask me as it’s so cruel it is almost un-imaginable.   ·         Bear baiting – where they put a bear, again with no teeth or claws in a pit/ring along with a number of hunting dogs that tear the bear to bits, all in front of people paying to watch the spectacle.   ·         Bile farming – extracting bile twice a day via a tube through the bear’s side which goes straight into its gall bladder, the bear being kept 24 hours a day in a cramped cage where it can hardly move.  Bile is used as an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.   ·         Bears being kept in a small cage outside a restaurant or other tourist venue simply to attract tourists.  A completely illegal event that still goes on in Europe - Romania in fact.   Now we have a chance to do something even more to help WSPA.  We have enrolled to do a sponsored 50 mile walk (a big change from sitting at an office desk all day!) over 4 days through the Romanian mountains, ending up at the WSPA purpose built bear sanctuary where they re-house rescued bears.  The trip takes place from September 11th to the 17th 2011 and we have a target of raising at least £5,000 to help towards the costs of running the sanctuary.  We urgently need your help; please, please, please make a donation, no matter how small, to this very worthwhile cause.   Take a look at the 5 pictures, the last two show how a bear should live, that’s what WSPA helps to achieve.  With your help they can do a lot more.   Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - We raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.   So please dig deep and donate now. And one last favour; please pass on the details of this page to all your friends, relatives and contacts and ask them to support WSPA with us.   Many thanks.   David & Jackie Crook

David & Jackie's page

David & Jackie's page

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