Imagine spending most, if not all, of your life chained, unable to see the beauties this world has to offer. We can all agree that’s not much of a life, right? The sad reality is that many animals endure this very fate.
Bear Caesar was held on a bile farm, in which she lived in a tiny cage with her gallbladder drained around the clock. Strapped into a metal vest, she could hardly move as she suffered constant pain, injuries and psychological trauma. The bile taken from her was sold for use in traditional medicine, a fate, sadly, shared with may bears.
Luckily, after years of suffering abuse, Caesar was freed from her captors in 2004.
“It’s the worst imaginable bile farm torture,” the organization that freed Caesar, said about the torture vest.
Over time, Caesar was able to regain some strength and turn into a majestic bear.
“Caesar’s scars have all but disappeared and today she is an astonishingly beautiful (and formidable) bear,” Animals Asia wrote back in 2016.
She enjoyed digging, swimming, and tanning, particularly in the pleasant, chilly fall weather.
“She has now spent a dozen happy years with Animals Asia in Chengdu, enjoying swims in the sunshine as well as indulging her natural digging instincts – particularly when the weather cools in the autumn,” Animals Asia said.
“Seeing a bear shake themselves like this is always a moment full of awe – they’re such incredibly beautiful, powerful animals and none more so than Caesar,” Nic Field, director of the group’s China bear and vet team, said in a statement. “To see her out in the sunshine – a dozen years on from her rescue – it’s hard to imagine her existence back then.”
While Caesar escaped this fate, countless other animals are not so fortunate.
About 10,000 bears are still held in captivity in China. His story should motivate us all to work together to end their suffering.
Although Caesar’s rescue couldn’t undo years of suffering, it gave her a brief taste of freedom, but sadly, the damage from years on the bile farm caught up with her, and she eventually died from a tumor caused by repeated gallbladder extractions.
Caesar’s suffering is a call to action. Every bear saved matters, and we cannot stop until all are free from bile farms.
