The story of Dawn a broken bear... and how we will mend her heart : we promised to piece her back together so that she can finally feel gras under her paws

Twenty years on a bile farm

"Dawn is op dit moment emotioneel afgesloten. Ze bracht 20 jaar door op een boerderij en in die tijd, wat ze ook deed, of ze zich nu verzette tegen wat haar overkwam of het accepteerde, er zouden toch slechte dingen gebeuren.

De beren worden iedere dag gemolken voor hun gal gebruikt voor medicijnen voor de potentie van de man.

Met vertaling naar het Nederlands vond ik het verhaal van Dawn niet tot zijn recht kwam. Ik heb het meestal zo gelaten .

Aan jou, de lezer, vraag ik je om stil te staan bij waar je 20 jaar geleden was, en bij alles wat er sindsdien is gebeurd. En bedenk dan hoe, terwijl je al die herinneringen maakte, op precies hetzelfde moment onze geliefde Dawn gevangen zat in de berengalindustrie.

Ik stel me voor dat ze er eerst tegenaan raasde en toen brak, ze gaf het op.

Learning to trust

Dawn is showing all the signs of what we as humans would call stress and anxiety. And these, as we know, can have a huge impact on a person’s and indeed a bear’s, ability to function, learn, and progress. 

And we want Dawn to learn: that she is safe, that she is loved, that life can and will be different from what she’s experienced up to now. 

A blended approach to bear recovery

Our bear and vet teams have done a full behavioural review for Dawn, which outlines how we will help her move past these initial barriers.

At our sanctuaries here in Vietnam and China we have an expert blended approach to the rehabilitation of the bears which marries behavioural expertise and veterinary medicine. 

Part of our plan for Dawn is to start her on a medicine called fluoxetine, which is an antidepressant. Our vets think that the bears’ brains actually change through years of chronic stress, and so giving Dawn this medication will hopefully allow her mind to start healing, which will allow us into her heart, and start earning her trust.

We will never give up on Dawn

I don't know a single bear yet whose trust we’ve not won. And I know we will be able to do the same with Dawn.

I’ve made a promise to Dawn that we will piece her back together, and one day we will share the story of how she took her first steps outside, felt the grass beneath her paws, felt the warmth of the sun on her fur, made her first bear friends, and how she finally knows what it means to be a bear.”

There are more like Dawn out there

Animals Asia is dedicated to rescuing the last bears who are still living on bile farms across Vietnam - the majority live where in the region Dawn was rescued from.

Join our Bear Rescue Team today and together we will reach every last one of them and bring them home to our new sanctuary.

Read more: Five bears rescued from bile farming hotspot