Surviving bears to be rescued from temple

[Lite Beer]

Surviving bears to be rescued from temple
By Coconuts Bangkok

BANGKOK: -- Anger over the sad and unnecessary death of a malnourished Malayan sun bear may have saved her friends from the same fate.

The remaining four bears living in captivity at a temple in Prachuap Khiri Khan province will soon be rescued by wildlife officials, the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand announced this afternoon, following an outcry over the death of one bear on Sunday.

“After almost a week providing medical treatment to the bears at the temple in Southern Thailand we now have been informed by the authorities that all remaining temple bears will be rescued within a few days,” it said. “WFFT has been sending complaint letters and letters of concern to the authorities for three years now, as the bears at this temple were kept in inadequate enclosures, too small and too dirty.”

Read More: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/03/17/surviving-bears-be-rescued

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-03-17

[JOC]

>>“WFFT has been sending complaint letters and letters of concern to the authorities for three years now, as the bears at this temple were kept in inadequate enclosures, too small and too dirty.”<<Quote

For three years the WFFT had knowledge of the bears poor living conditions, and did nothing.

Sadly one of the bears had to die and create an outcry on social media before the socalled animal lovers decided to react!!

WFFT and monks are supposed to be the good guys??

I that case, I would not like to meet the bad guys!!

[attrayant]

Why does a temple want to keep bears anyway?

[LuckyLew]

Owner of the bears should be chucked in a Thai jail so he can know what the kind of conditions he kept his bears in

[bangkokfrog]

>>“WFFT has been sending complaint letters and letters of concern to the authorities for three years now, as the bears at this temple were kept in inadequate enclosures, too small and too dirty.”<<Quote

For three years the WFFT had knowledge of the bears poor living conditions, and did nothing.

Sadly one of the bears had to die and create an outcry on social media before the socalled animal lovers decided to react!!

WFFT and monks are supposed to be the good guys??

I that case, I would not like to meet the bad guys!!

I am not sure what WFFT is, but from the article I don't think you can say that they did nothing. If they have indeed been sending complaint letters to the 'authorities' for 3 years, then that is where the blame should lie.

But then we all know that nothing will be done in fine role model of a caring Buddhist country.

[arjunadawn]

Still, whoever was directly in charge of the choice to retain these animals like this should be forced to live in such conditions for a time. Among other things, we as humans are defined by our treatment and compassion for the weakest among us, this includes children, women, disabled, and yes, bears.

[Mcffee]

Clearly not a temple of Buddha but a temple of evil. They should demolish this crap rightaway and plant trees instead.

[NeilSA1]

Owner of the bears should be chucked in a Thai jail so he can know what the kind of conditions he kept his bears in

Yes, or chucked in the bear enclosure for a while, when the bears have been released.

[Tywais]

WFFT - Wildlife Friends Foundation of Thailand. As for the comment about 'not doing anything', well they have. As an organization they do not have direct authority to physically take control of this but have to push the authorities to do something. It's the authorities that have been sitting on their backsides allowing this crap to happen.

Main objectives:

Rescue wild animals from places where they are maltreated and/or neglected, and help them to spend the rest of their lives in a sanctuary as close to the natural environment as possible with the best possible care. In particular, provide sanctuary for those animals that no-one else is prepared to care for, e.g. the sick and disabled.

We aim to rescue those animals who have suffered at the hands of humans, rehabilitating and releasing where possible, and caring for those who are unable to be returned to the wild. We aim to provide the best standard of living and a life as close to wild as possible for these animals.

Educate people, particularly children, to stop cruelty to animals. In particular campaign against the illegal trade in wild animals for the pet industry and discourage the use of animals for entertainment, for example in performing animal shows.

[Suradit69]

>>“WFFT has been sending complaint letters and letters of concern to the authorities for three years now, as the bears at this temple were kept in inadequate enclosures, too small and too dirty.”<<Quote

For three years the WFFT had knowledge of the bears poor living conditions, and did nothing.

Sadly one of the bears had to die and create an outcry on social media before the socalled animal lovers decided to react!!

WFFT and monks are supposed to be the good guys??

I that case, I would not like to meet the bad guys!!

"For three years the WFFT had knowledge of the bears poor living conditions, and did nothing."

They were asking the authorities to do something. They would have no right to do anything with or for the animals without permission from someone. It does seem they could have talked to the monks or brought some supplements to their diet.

“Two of the bears in the temple are still sick and need urgent treatment, but we have no authority to move them,” Mr Wiek said.

[WitawatWatawit]

are of course saddened by the lack of response by authorities, resulting in the death of two innocent bears, it added. ... Religious leaders are just like politicians and wealthy people often above the law, so legal charges for illegal wildlife possession or animal cruelty are usually not pressed by police or other authorities.

Well said. Not sure just how powerful this WFFT is, but I doubt it enjoys the stature of the RSPCA. If it is to be criticised in any way, it should be because it did not take the opportunity 3 years ago to use the power of "name and shame" - it really could have used pctures to kick up a fuss a long time before it came to this sick and sad ending. I'd like to see them now release every litle document and detail about this case, including the names of every person they dealt with over the past 3 years. Callousness doesn't get lower than this.

[Beng]

Why does a temple want to keep bears anyway?

Exactely.