The South Devon Animals Asia Support Group, formerly the South Devon China Bear Rescue Group, is currently rescuing a Vietnamese moon bear called Miracle from a bile farm in Vietnam.

Having successfully rescued the moon bear Stardust from a life of torture in a bile farm in China and raised funds to rescue Moonlight, a second Chinese moon bear, the group is now raising money to help Miracle. The Vietnamese government have now declared bear farming illegal and are working with the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) in Vietnam to close the bile farms and free the 4,000 bears. The Vietnamese authorities have given AAF the land to build a sanctuary to rescues 200 of these bears. The South Devon Animals Asia Support Group has expanded its remit from rescuing Chinese moon bears to include the rescue of Vietnamese moon bears and to support AAF in its education programme to bring end to eating dogs and cats in China and killing them for their fur. The group's founder, Barbara Gardner, who visited the sanctuary in China earlier this ear and met the group's first sponsored bear Stardust, said: 'It costs £5,000 to rescue each bear and this comes entirely from individual donors and support groups like ours in south Devon. 'We have been extremely fortunate to have had so many supporters and volunteer fundraisers join us since we set up the group last April and so we feel we can help AAF with their Vietnamese bear rescue project and the cat and dog eating education programme now as well as the China bear rescue.' Jill Robinson, the founder of AAF, is touring the UK to promote the work of the AAF and will be at the Belgrave Hotel, Torquay, to talk about the charity on June 25. For more information call Alan Heseltine on 01626 872767.