The irony of China's vile bear-bile trade: it does more harm than good
Defenders of extracting bear bile say it is good for people, but, cruelty aside, the infections the animals suffer and the unhygienic extraction process means the bile is mixed with all sorts of bacteria that can make you ill, writes Cecilie Gamst Berg
A few months ago I wrote a column criticising China's dog trade in no uncertain terms.
Or at least, I thought it had been in no uncertain terms, but chew me down if the Facebook friends of a well-known local dog rescuer didn't manage to take "stop China's evil dog trade" as "China's dog trade is great and everybody should torture dogs to death three times a day".
I saw the comments on that person's Facebook post and they were mostly along the lines of "This woman is sick!", "She is worse than the dog traders!" and (watch out, my editor) "I'll never buy the SCMP again!"
See? That's what happens when you try to use irony as a tool. It never works.
I tell you another thing that's ironic: China's bear-bile trade.
What's that, you ask. I wouldn't have known either if it hadn't been for the indefatigable Jill Robinson and her staff at the Animals Asia charity.
Bear bile is a component in certain Chinese medicines and is used as an anti-inflammatory.