China continues to have almost 500 bear farms where Moon Bears are put through years of abuse and pain. These bears are kept in cages where they cannot stand or barely move. They have their nails and teeth ripped out (in many cases) and get to live with having a rusty catheter in them for years at a time. Those who profit from their misery maintain that they need the bear bile for medicine. Sometimes, bears are hunted and killed only to have their gall bladders cut out. Again, this is in the name of medicine?

In 2006, China killed off thousands of dogs (and cats) in the year that was supposed to be their "Year of the Dog." They murdered people's pets and even homeless animals, literally beating them to death in the street, right in public view. They tossed them into mass gravesites when many of them were not even dead yet and then ran over them with bulldozers. They did this because they were afraid of rabies. Perhaps next time give some thought to a simple rabies vaccination. It seems like that would have been a better, more humane idea. This is certainly NOT the fault of the Chinese citizens who had their pets killed under government orders. My heart goes out to them.

Tigers are still being killed and sold on the black market in China, for Chinese medicine. They claim that various tiger parts can help with different ailments or conditions. Rhinoceros horns, caterpillar fungus, deer testicles, snake skins (from snakes that were skinned alive) are among the many "ingredients" that go into their various tonics and medicines. Sadly, many of these animals are already on the verge of extinction. In researching this subject, I came across another piece of information that made me both sick and angry. It seems some of these folks (in countries all over the world) believe that eating the sex organs of a tiger will help them with impotency. That makes about as much sense as eating a box of crayons to become more artistic. I am wondering at what point certain societies will stop using animals for medicine? It simply is not necessary to go that route anymore. I somehow manage to live just fine without bear bile and snake oil in my medicine cabinet. It seems to me that people are sticking with these archaic ways of living simply because of profit. To profit off the misery and pain of other living beings is unforgivable. I will never understand or accept any society or person who participates in or subsidizes such cruelty.

I am politely asking on behalf of myself and other concerned people to please STOP putting animal and insect parts in your herbs. Stop using their organs, horns, skin or anything else in the name of medicine. While I am not a fan of modern medicine, I do not support any type of medicine where an animal had to be killed or harmed to create it.

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages." -Thomas A. Edison