Mary Hutton is simply put, a great inspiration to me. She is someone who saw a heartbreaking issue, and immediately decided to try to make a positive difference. It only took seeing something horrific once and she made a decision that would greatly change many lives.

Back in 1993, Mary was sitting at home watching tv as many of us do, when a program came on about the bile trade in Asia. She saw the devastating conditions that moon bears were (and are) being forced into, to extract the bile or “milk” from their gall bladders to then use for traditional medicinal reasons. And that’s all it took. The VERY next day she started gathering signatures (at her local mall entrance) to file a petition in efforts to stop this illegal wildlife trade. After collecting THOUSANDS of signatures she found the support and encouragement to establish Free the Bears, a nonprofit charity.

As things progressed, the word of her actions and sacrifices motivated others to help. She was able to open bear sanctuaries in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Along the way helping bears across the world with one mission in mind:

“To protect, preserve, and enrich the lives of bears throughout the world.”

Click here to learn about their achievements over the years.