Tuffy the bear spent nine long years confined to a ‘torture vest,’ packed inside a tiny cage at a bear bile farm in Vietnam.
They kept Tuffy, along with many other bears, to extract bile from them, which is used in traditional medicine in Vietnam.
Thankfully, Tuffy was rescued from that hell by Animals Asia and brought to their sanctuary.
Upon his arrival, he was examined by a team of veterinarians who determined that his gall bladder had to be removed due to how damaged it was with gallstones.
He also had to have fractured teeth removed. He suffered from painful, dry, cracked paws, which is from standing on bars instead of grass.
Tuffy was so dehydrated and was so happy to see a pool filled with water. The moment he was released into Animal Asia’s sanctuary, Tuffy was relieved. He enjoyed splashing in the water and finally having the freedom to roam around wherever he pleased, especially feeling the soft grass beneath his feet.
Source: Youtube/Animals Asia
Since his rescue, Tuffy’s life has become better and better every single day. He now lives with 15 other bears at the sanctuary and has really shown his playful personality. He is free to forage, swim and play with his new friends whenever and wherever he likes.
“For many years in that cage, Tuffy must have thought the world had forgotten him but there were always people out there who cared,” said Jill Robinson, Animals Asia founder. “Now, he’s home with us, and has no idea that his innocent happiness has been an inspiration.”
Sadly, there are nearly 1,200 bears just like Tuffy who are still stuck in bile farms in Vietnam, and more than 10,000 in China. Animals Asia has already rescued almost 600 bears from these awful conditions and plans to keep going until all of the bile farms are shut down.
“[Tuffy] doesn’t know how much he has made us smile and he doesn’t know that his story has led millions of people to the campaign to end bear bile farming,” Robinson continued. “For Tuffy and for thousands of bears like him who have suffered – we will end this cruelty.”
Watch Tuffy experience the outdoors for the first time in the video below:
