Bear Bile Farming Isn't Just Cruel, It's "Unnecessary"

 

Photo: Soggydan / cc

In pursuit of convenient animal-based products, like meat and leather, profiteers and consumers have turned a blind eye to some incredibly inhumane treatment of countless other species -- but too often, unimaginable cruelty is inflicted for no real gain at all. Throughout parts of China, some 10,000 endangered Asiatic black bears are currently housed in tiny, restrictive metal cages where they are systematically 'milked' of bile, a digestive fluid produced in the gallbladder which is believed to have medicinal qualities in some Asian traditions. But after a recent conference on bile farms, experts have confirmed what so many animal rights groups had long suspected: the bear bile industry isn't just cruel, it's unnecessary, too.

Article continues: Bear Bile Farming Isn't Just Cruel, It's "Unnecessary"