After playing a pivotal role in rescuing all the dancing bears in India, International Animal Rescue is facing a struggle to feed the hundreds of hungry mouths in its sanctuaries. In an emergency appeal to supporters this week, the charity is urging them not to forget the bears they helped to save.
When, at the end of 2009, International Animal Rescue announced that it had saved what was believed to be the last dancing bear in India, Chief Executive Alan Knight warned that the challenge which lay ahead was even greater than the task of rescuing the bears. He said at the time: “Much work remains to be done to provide the rescued bears with the best possible quality of life and, in order to achieve this, the support of the public is going to be more vital than ever.”
Today he added: “Ironically, we seem to be victims of our own success. It is almost as though our supporters and the general public have forgotten about the bears now that they are no longer on the streets. Donations are down and, if things don’t pick up, we’ll be facing some really hard times ahead.
“We appreciate that everyone is feeling the pinch, but we hope people will realise that even the smallest donation can make a difference. The bears we rescued with the help of the British public still need us as much as they did before. The road to recovery is a long one and many of them still require specialist treatment and food to help them on their way.
“We have always relied entirely on support from the public for our funding and they have never let us down. We’re hoping that a polite reminder will be enough to get them to respond so that we can continue to provide the bear necessities for our bears – and hopefully a few little treats too along the way.”
During the campaign to rescue the bears, IAR patron comedian and musician Bill Bailey made a short video appeal for help from the public. He remains a staunch supporter of all IAR’s projects which now also include the rescue and rehabilitation of orangutans in Borneo.