China: Campaign to Free “World’s Saddest Polar Bear” Headed by White Man

SCROLL TO THE bottom on this post for the video. As I write, this story is gaining traction worldwide, including at metro.co.uk, where I first saw it.

Note that the person speaking out against this barbaric animal cruelty, which characterizes China and other parts of Asia, is a white man of European descent, a Mr. Dave Neale.

Kudos to him for bringing this story to our attention.

Here’s the story from the YouTube information box.

Published on July 9, 2016

World’s saddest polar bear trapped in shopping centre for people to take selfies prompts call for boycott

World’s saddest polar bear’ kept in shopping centre ‘suffers for selfies’

Shopping centre traps polar bear just so shoppers can get a selfie with it

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said: “This is a bear that suffers for what? For selfies? For shopping?”

Polar bear is trapped in shopping mall for the sake of selfies

Disgusted animal rights activists are calling on customers to boycott a shopping centre, which proudly traps animals so shoppers can take selfies with them.

One of the animals — a polar bear — has to suffer from constant banging on windows from shoppers at the Grandview shopping centre in Guangzhou, China.

Many animals are trapped in the shopping centre to “entertain” customers.

Those against the shopping centre have dubbed the building “the world’s saddest zoo”.

There are two polar bears in the building alongside six young belugas, five walrus calves, and a wolf.

Arctic foxes are also kept in the building.

But now animal welfare activists are calling on shoppers to boycott the shopping centre until it returns the animals to their natural habitat.

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said: “There is no excuse for any animal to be trapped this way but it’s widely believed that polar bears are one of the hardest of all animals to effectively provide for in captivity. Polar bears often exhibit ‘stereotypic’ behaviour as captivity restricts their natural instincts such as the need to forage.

“Polar bears require huge amounts of space. Large enough for them to walk, run, climb and hunt.

“The list of what they need is very long — to a point whereby you can only really answer that what a polar bear really ‘needs’ is to be free to live life in the wild.

“This bear has no peace and nothing natural to take comfort in. What’s more information on how best to try to meet the complex physical and behavioural needs of captive polar bears is freely available and yet this animal has been willfully incarcerated in this way.

We are calling on the Chinese public not to attend this attraction. We are calling for it to be closed down. This is a bear that suffers for what? For selfies? For shopping?”

An online petition calling for the closure of a shopping centre holding a polar bear dubbed the ‘saddest in the world’ has attracted more than 150,000 signatures.

Animal rights activists have called for members of the public to boycott the Grandview shopping centre in the city of Guangzhou.

The Animals Asia group has also called for the ‘attraction’ to be shut down; claiming the polar bear is suffering simply so shoppers can take selfies with the animal.
Photos and videos shared online show the polar bear being kept in a small glass enclosure and shoppers gathering to photograph the animal.

Animals Asia Animal Welfare Director Dave Neale said “there is no excuse for any animal to be trapped this way”.

“It’s widely believed that polar bears are one of the hardest of all animals to effectively provide for in captivity,” he explained.

The earth’s saddest polar bear resides in a shopping center.
‘World’s saddest polar bear’ kept in shopping centre ‘suffers for selfies’
Polar bear is trapped in his enclosure at Grandview Aquarium, China
Customers queue to gawp at him and knock on his glass windows
But a petition has been started to free him from his cruel cage
Centre in Guangzhou also houses belugas, a walrus and a wolf

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Source: Saboteur365