Watch the video to hear from Nick Maxwell and Dr Jan Schmidt-BurbachBear baiting in Pakistan is the world's most savage blood sport. A bear, with claws blunted and teeth removed, is tied to a post in the centre of a stadium and set upon by dogs. When the fight looks like it is about to become fatal, it is stopped.
But only to give the exhausted bear time to rest before facing the dogs again.
Collingwood’s skipper Nick Maxwell, who was already financially assisting the cause against bear baiting, has elected to take a step further by becoming an ambassador for the organisation.?
“I am working with the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) on bear baiting,” Maxwell told CTV from Victoria Park.??
“In Pakistan, where its illegal, they have a pole in the middle of a stadium with bears chained to it and they have their teeth ripped out and their claws blunted and are forced to fight three or four dogs at a time up to seven times a day.”??
“We need $500,000 now to build a sanctuary. We are going to do it brick by brick at $10 a brick.”
Flying down from the WSPA’s offices in Beijing for the launch, Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach has been fighting against the cruelty of the bears in Pakistan for over a decade.
“We have been trying to stop this practice for the last ten years,” said Dr. Schmidt-Burbach.??
“We have one sanctuary already and we are building a second one and that’s where we need the support of the people of Australia.”
The organisation’s goal is to build a second sanctuary within Pakistan to house up to 70 bears and to do that they are aiming at raising $500,000 - brick by brick.??
Click here to visit the Bricks for Bears website and to support the cause. ??
Nick Maxwell and Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach pose in front of the mural.
