Two Asiatic black bears have been liberated from a lifetime of suffering after being locked in a dark basement beneath a clothing shop in Vietnam. For years, they had suffered agonizing bile extractions for the illegal bear bile trade. A male bear named Xuan endured these appalling conditions for 17 years, reportedly after being captured as a cub in 2004. It’s unknown how long his female counterpart, Mo, has been held captive. Both were kept in small cages in a basement without ventilation, natural light, or sensory stimulation. International animal welfare group Four Paws, based in Vienna, Austria, intervened in the early morning of March 23, calling the bears’ conditions “the worst we’ve ever seen.” A rescue team liberated the bears from the basement in Son La province in northwestern Vietnam and prepared them for the 10-hour journey to their Bear Sanctuary in Ninh Binh. “It was the first time we have …