In the course of keeping tabs on puppy mills, I run across all manner of other forms of animal cruelty: kittens fed to snakes, dogs thrown off bridges, mutilated rabbits. I thought I’d heard it all until I drove to Missoula, Montana this week and listened to renowned biologist and author Marc Bekoff describe the plight of China’s moon bears.

 

I was vaguely familiar with the practice of caging Asian moon bears — so named because of the cream-colored, crescent-shaped V on their chests — for the purpose of extracting bile, which is used in all sorts of traditional eastern medicines. But I hadn’t known the particulars. The bears aren’t merely caged, it turns out: they’re confined to incredibly small “crush cages,” which makes it easier to extract the bile via catheters stuck into their gallbladders. The bears are stretched out on their backs in these cages, which often measure a mere 2.6 by 4.4 feet. They’re so immobilized that they can move only their heads — and not, as Marc pointed out, for 15 minutes or 15 hours, but in some cases for 15 years. Or longer.

 

This painful procedure combined with intensive confinement has to be the most despicable, insidious form of abuse ever inflicted on an animal. And thousands of bears across Asia endure it in bear farms that make puppy mills seem like palaces.

 

I was so touched by a photo Marc showed of Jasper, a moon bear who was finally rescued from his crush cage and is now living his final years at a sanctuary. Despite his ordeal, Jasper has learned to enjoy life — and even serves as an ambassador of sorts to new bears. Years of torture failed to kill his spirit.

 

Marc spoke about many more aspects of animal life in his talk, which was sponsored by the University of Montana’s Center for Ethics. A professor emeritus in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, he conducts research the world over for books like The Emotional Lives of Animals and Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals. I was lucky enough to join Marc and some colleagues for dinner beforehand and found him funny, engaging and eloquent.

 

Read more about the plight of moon bears at http://www.animalsasia.org/index.php?UID=2J0NIOGTVCWA

 

Good news from Pennsylvania: Dozens of puppy mills there have shut their doors rather than try to meet tough new operating standards, the state’s Burea of Dog Law Enforcement says in a just-out report. The number of large-volume kennels has fallen by two thirds, from 303 a year and a half ago to 111 today, according to the Associated Press.

 

Some of the kennels will reopen after making renovations. And the new law exempts smaller kennels from its most stringent guidelines, which means puppy mills are still doing business.

 

Still, the new law is turning around Pennsylvania’s reputation as the Puppy Mill of the East.

 

Among other things, large-volume breeders are required to double the size of the dog cages, stop stacking the cages, eliminate wire flooring and give their dogs access to the outside. The kennels have to be kept clean and ventilated and breeders must bring in veterinarians twice a year to examine their dogs.

Saving Gracie describes in detail Pennsylvania’s history with puppy mills and the campaign that brought about the unprecedented changes.

 

The new law isn’t perfect. Ideally, no dog would ever be housed in a cage. Authorities are still debating standards governing ammonia and humidity, air temperature, ventilation, flooring and lighting. And problems remain with kennels that operate off the radar, which escape scrutiny. The report estimates that at least 15 percent of the kennels that claim to have closed are probably still in business, according to the AP.

 

Still, despite what naysayers claim, Pennsylvania deserves credit for doing what it can to make life easier for the dogs that are.

 

Here’s the AP story: