 Polly Smith Rescues Lilly Polly Smith Rescues Lilly  Toby gets saved by John Mason Toby gets saved by John Mason  Bear saved by Bethany Beeville Bear saved by Bethany Beeville

Bear Dancing Bear dancing has been happening for hundreds of years. In India and Pakistan two thousand black and sloth bears are forced to dance for public entertainment. How they catch the bears The bears are stolen from the mother. They take the baby cubs either when the mother is hunting for food or they shoot the mother when she’s there. But sometimes baby cubs die before they are sold for training because of neglect and dehydration. We, the ARP (Animal Right Policy) are fighting to protect the lives of these poor creatures from extinction. Here are some of our cases:

This bear was called Lilly. She was beaten and hurt just to entertain people like you! One of our members, Polly Smith, was on holiday in India to see all the colourful and interesting buildings but she came across a sad sight. It was bear dancing! She reported it to us and we came over to India to help. We understand that people need money, but surely bear dancing cannot be the answer! We gave the bear owner money to get a better job and put the bear into a bear sanctuary. ARP’s worst cases

John Mason, a team traveller, was in India to help prevent the dancing bears on the streets. The Kalandar village was one of the main bear training places. He came across a beaten bear which was dumped by a river. It appeared old so John assumed it was left to die as it was no use for dancing any longer. He called the team and we came over to collect the ill bear. When we arrived back at the sanctuary, we gave the bear a health check. The bear, with the new name of Toby, had many cuts and bruises. We were certain he was a dancing bear. After a couple of weeks of care and treatment, Toby was back on his (four not two!) feet. Toby had recovered well and is now resting in his enclosure eating and drinking his proper diet. ARP’s worst cases

This is Beeville and it was such a awful case that he was named after his rescuer, Bethany Beeville. When Bethany found Beeville in the Kalandar region, India, she was disgusted by the inhumane ways of treating bears. She noticed Beeville had several wounds and was bruised all over. The poor bear was frightened and nervous around everybody passing. When it danced it looked terrified. The fear was clear in its eyes. Dancing on its tired, hind legs Beeville was looking as if he was crying. Beeville was clearly not in a good state of condition. The team, along with Bethany, took Beeville from India and into a safe home in a sanctuary. The sanctuary cared for Beeville until he had fully recovered. Sadly, Beeville past away a year later. Although his health was good again, he died of old age. Our team was happy that Beeville enjoyed the last year of his wasted life. But India is not the only country who makes bears dance!

 When you go holiday don’t watch bear dancing  Donate money to charities (like us) to stop bear dancing  Spread the word so more people can take action  You could start up your own charity and do fun sponsored activities to raise even more money!

By Abbie Glossop and Rahimah Rafiq