Jill Robinson was born May 25,1958 and raised in the United Kingdom. She arrived in Hong Kong in 1985 and spent 12 years working in Asia as a consultant for the International Fund for Animal Welfare. In 1991 Jill founded DrDog, the first animal therapy program in Asia. Dr Dog introduced the concept of change through empathy, believing that empathy for one animal can evolve into empathy for an entire species. In 1993 a visit to a bear farm in Southern China changed Jill’s life. The farm exposed endangered Asiatic black bears cruelly farmed and milked for bile. Learning how easily herbs and synthetics could replace bear bile, she embarked on a journey to end the practice of bear farming once and for all. In 1998 she founded Animals Asia, an organization that’s devoted to ending the barbaric practice of bear bile farming and improving the welfare of animals in China and Vietnam by promoting compassion and respect for all animals and working to bring long term change. In 2000 Jill signed an agreement with the Chinese Authorities to set up a bear sanctuary and rescue bears from the bile industry. This was the first agreement between the Chinese government and an International NGO. Animals Asia is the only organization with a bear sanctuary in China. In 2017 with Animals Asia’s Vietnam Director Yuan Bendixsen, Jill signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Vietnam to bring bear bile farming to an end by 2022. Animals Asia has grown into a respected international NGO with over 300 staff and offices in Australia, China, Germany, Vietnam, United States and the UK. Jill has received numerous awards and commendations for her work over the years. She has given hundreds of presentations throughout the world and has been featured in multiple documentaries on Animal Planet. Today Animals Asia has rescued over 600 bears and cares for them in their award winning sanctuary.