Bear bile proposal fails

From Animal-People May/June 2013

CHENGDU––Guizhentang Pharmaceutical,  China’s largest producer of bear bile,  in April 2013 for the second time in two years withdrew a proposal to sell stock to raise the capital needed to increase the number of bears it keeps from 400 to 1,200.   

As in 2010,  the Animals Asia Foundation and China SOS Help rallied opposition to the stock offering. “Protesters in bear suits picketed drugstores,  hackers briefly brought down Guizhentang’s web site,  and more than 70 celebrities,  including basketball star Yao Ming and pop diva Han Hong petitioned the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to reject the offering,”  reported Andrew Jacobs of The New York Times.  “After some of China’s biggest news media posted undercover footage revealing cages so tight the bears could barely move, Guizhentang withdrew its application, saying it needed more time to put together its filing.”