AR-News: India's Forgotten "Dancing" Bears--Sample Letter

Fri Jul 2 21:50:55 EDT 2004

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Forwarded Message: 

Subj:[AGA] LETTER/When Bears Weep: India's Forgotten Dancing Bears 
Date:7/1/2004 10:56:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:bizshows at att.net
To:Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent from the Internet (Details)

SAMPLE LETTER FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE  /  http://www.kinshipcircle.org
7/1/04--When Bears Weep: India's Forgotten Dancing Bears
1 letter

SOURCE OF INFORMATION:
susan taylor, susanmaria14 at yahoo.co.uk
International Animal Rescue: http://www.iar.org.uk/
Torture of the Dancing Bears: http://lynnda.net/bears.html
http://www.wspa-americas.org/tv_bears.htm
Govt. of India Tourist Offices: 
http://www.tourisminindia.com/contactinfo/inindia.htm
Ministry of Environment and Forests: http://envfor.nic.in/
President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam; 
The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh: http://goidirectory.nic.in/

ONLINE PETITION: http://www.petitiononline.com/t1d2b3/petition.html 

*DISCLAIMER: The information in these letters is verified with the original 
source. I cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information or 
for the consequences of its use.

*Kinship Circle cannot guarantee the validity of email addresses. During a 
campaign, recipients may change or disable their email addresses.

============================================

CONTACT INFORMATION

**All contact info was obtained from the official government of India 
websites. Kinship Circle cannot guarantee the timeliness of these websites, nor if 
all email addresses listed there are valid.

THIS EMAIL BLOCK INCLUDES ADDRESSES FOR:
- Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India
- Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, The Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, 
Government of India
- Sh. A. Raja, Union Minister of Environment & Forests
- Sh. Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Environment & Forests
- Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, President of India

helpdesk at tourisminindia.com, agra at tourisminindia.com, 
aurangabad at tourisminindia.com, 
bangalore at tourisminindia.com, bhubaneswar at tourisminindia.com, 
mumbai at tourisminindia.com, 
calcutta at tourisminindia.com, kochi at tourisminindia.com, 
guwahati at tourisminindia.com, 
hyderabad at tourisminindia.com, imphal at tourisminindia.com, 
jaipur at tourisminindia.com, 
khajuraho at tourisminindia.com, chennai at tourisminindia.com, 
neharlagun at tourisminindia.com,    newdelhi at tourisminindia.com, panaji at tourisminindia.com, 
patna at tourisminindia.com, 
portblair at tourisminindia.com, shillong at tourisminindia.com, 
thiruvananthapuram at tourisminindia.com, varansi at tourisminindia.com, secy at menf.delhi.nic.in, 
prodipto_ghosh at nic.in, mef at menf.delhi.nic.in, mosef at menf.delhi.nic.in, 
presidentofindia at rb.nic.in

IN ADDITION TO SENDING YOUR COMMENTS TO THE EMAILS ABOVE, PLEASE SEND TO THE 
FOLLOWING AUTHORITIES VIA THEIR WEB FEEDBACK FORMS:
Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India:
web feedback form: http://www.tourismofindia.com/foot/contactus.htm

President of India, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam:
web feedback form: http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/writetopresident.jsp

The Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh:
web feedback form: http://pmindia.nic.in/write.htm

============================================

SAMPLE LETTER

Sh. A. Raja, Union Minister of Environment & Forests
Sh. Namo Narain Meena, Minister of State for Environment & Forests
Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, The Secretary, Government of India
Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF)
Paryavaran Bhavan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road; New Delhi - 110 003  INDIA 
ph: +91-11-2436 1896, 2436 0721

The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
South Block, Raisina Hill; New Delhi, India-110 011 
ph: 91-11-23012312; fax: 91-11-23019545 / 91-11-23016857

President of India, Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India 

Honorable Government Officials of India:

I respectfully ask you to uphold The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 
1960, Chapter V, Section 24 that empowers the court "to prohibit or restrict 
exhibition and training of performing animals" when "accompanied by unnecessary 
pain or suffering."

The notorious Dancing Bears of India are trained and exhibited in an 
unusually cruel manner. Tiny sloth bears, some only weeks old, are seized from mothers 
shot dead before their eyes. Many succumb to starvation, dehydration, 
suffocation or shock during the long journey with Kalandars who use them to beg for 
money along the roads from Delhi to Jaipur and Agra. According to a WSPA (World 
Society for the Protection of Animals) report, 50-70% perish along the way.

For roughly 1,200 bears drafted into servitude, life begins with the piercing 
of their tender muzzle. The cub is restrained as a fire-heated needle is 
forced into his or her nostrils. Next, a training rope is threaded through the 
mutilated bone, cartilage and nerve membrane. Trainers drag bears around by these 
ropes to coerce them into the unnatural act of lifting their legs. The force 
of the rope tugging against an infected, open wound creates the illusion of a 
"dancing bear." In reality, the bear is frantically trying to escape 
unbearable pain.

In addition to these savage training techniques, handlers tear the bears' 
incisor and canine teeth from their mouths to sell as good-luck charms. The 
toothless bears--limited to a diet of lentils, chapatis and sour milk--commonly 
wind up with fatal intestinal disorders.

Many potential tourists, including myself, will not vacation in countries 
that condone or ignore such blatant animal cruelty. I will not travel to India or 
purchase goods manufactured there until: The Indian Wildlife Protection Act 
of 1972, which outlaws the capture of wild bears, is rigorously enforced; the 
government subsidizes a bear sanctuary for retired dancing bears, all of whom 
are too disfigured and tame to survive in the wild; and authorities permanently 
shut down the dancing bear industry and assist the Kalandars in finding new 
employment.

Please inform me of the government's efforts to end this sad and profoundly 
inhumane "tradition."

Thank you,

============================================

http://www.animalsong.org/DancingBearsOfIndia.htm

Dancing Bears of India

The people gathered round, to see the bear perform his dance.
He didn't have a choice you see, he didn't stand a chance.
His muzzle had been pierced with a red hot iron bar.
His owner would make sure he didn't wander very far.

He was captured as a baby with just this thing in mind.
His mother she was slaughtered and her cub was left behind.
He was taken to the city in a cage with iron bars.
He was lonely and was frightened of all the trucks and cars.

They left him in a little cage, tied with a rope and chain.
Then, they made him dance all day out in the sun and rain
They tugged hard on the rope, that was threaded through his nose.
They poked him with a big thick stick, to dance up on his toes.

They pulled his canine teeth out, he couldn't eat his natural food.
They tried to feed him other things but it wasn't any good.
He got sick with malnutrition and was left to die in pain.
The people that would do these things must really be insane.

Animal Rights Counterculture
http://www.animalsong.org 
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