IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 30 

Condemning the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, and urging China to 

end the dog meat trade. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2017 

Mr. HASTINGS (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. PERRY, Mr. ZELDIN, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. NADLER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. SCHIFF, 

Mr. COHEN, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

PAYNE, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. 

SABLAN, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. MOORE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. 

DONOVAN, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. LANCE, Ms. 

TITUS, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. POCAN, 

Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. BISHOP of Michigan, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. 

LANGEVIN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. KEATING, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. SMITH

of New Jersey, Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, and Mr. UPTON) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, and 

urging China to end the dog meat trade. 

Whereas the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China, was 

launched by dog meat traders during the period of 2009 

to 2010 as a commercial enterprise to boost flagging 

sales of dog meat; 


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Whereas a reported 10,000 dogs are captured and slaughtered each year for the Dog Meat Festival, and more 

than 10,000,000 dogs are killed in China each year for 

the dog meat trade; 

Whereas many of these dogs are stolen pets, still wearing collars when they reach the slaughterhouses; 

Whereas many dogs die during transport to the slaughterhouses after days or weeks without food or water, and 

others suffer illness and injury during transport, such as 

broken bones; 

Whereas dogs who reach the slaughterhouses are typically 

beaten to death with shocking brutality, without any regard for their welfare; 

Whereas these dogs also suffer mentally from watching other 

dogs being killed, then disemboweled and blow-torched in 

front of them; 

Whereas respected animal welfare organizations have exposed 

the extreme suffering of dogs at the Dog Meat Festival 

and determined that such suffering would breach the animal welfare laws of the United States; 

Whereas dog slaughter in Yulin happens in residential areas 

and public marketplaces, imposing scenes of extreme animal cruelty on local residents, including young children 

who may, as a result, suffer psychological trauma and desensitization; 

Whereas the dog meat trade—the capture, transport, and 

butchering of dogs and the consumption of dog meat— 

poses a risk to human health by exposing people to a 

multitude of diseases, including rabies and cholera; 

Whereas dog meat traders sell meat from dogs who have died 

of poisoning by dog thieves or unknown causes or who 


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have been slaughtered without the required vaccination 

and health records; 

Whereas the dog meat trade breaches China’s food safety 

laws and regulations that ban processing and selling 

meat from livestock who have died of illnesses or unknown causes; 

Whereas, in 2011, China’s Agriculture Ministry issued a regulation to limit the illegal transport of dogs by requiring 

‘‘one certificate for one dog’’, applicable to any dog who 

is shipped across provincial boundaries; 

Whereas dog transporters are unable to produce ‘‘one certificate for one dog’’ because many of the animals are stolen 

pets or the certificates are too costly to provide; 

Whereas, although the Yulin city government withdrew as a 

sponsor of the Dog Meat Festival, it has taken no meaningful action to enforce China’s existing laws and regulations on animal disease control, food safety, trans-provincial dog transport, or youth protection, all of which are 

breached by the dog meat trade; 

Whereas millions of Chinese citizens recently voted in support 

of a legislative proposal by Zhen Xiaohe, a deputy to the 

National People’s Congress of China, to ban the dog 

meat trade; 

Whereas the majority of people in China do not consume dog 

meat and dog meat is not a part of mainstream Chinese 

culinary practice; and 

Whereas tens of millions of people around the world have 

called upon the Government of China, the Governor of 

the Guangxi Autonomous Region, and the Mayor of Yulin 

to officially end the Dog Meat Festival and stop the mass 


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slaughter of dogs all year round in Yulin: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns the Dog Meat Festival in Yulin 

3 because it— 

4 (A) is a spectacle of extreme animal cru5 elty; 

6 (B) is a commercial activity claimed by 

7 proponents to be in the name of tradition, but 

8 is not actually grounded in Chinese history; 

9 (C) is opposed by a majority of the Chi10 nese people; and 

11 (D) threatens global public health; 

12 (2) urges the Government of China and the 

13 Yulin authorities to enforce the 2011 Agriculture 

14 Ministry of China Regulation on the Quarantine of 

15 Dogs at the Place of Origin that requires ‘‘one cer16 tificate for one dog’’ who is on board a trans-provin17 cial transport truck; 

18 (3) encourages the Government of China and 

19 the Yulin authorities to enforce China’s food safety 

20 laws regulating the processing and sale of animal 

21 products; 

22 (4) urges the Government of China and the 

23 Yulin authorities to impose a ban on the killing and 

24 eating of dogs as part of Yulin’s festival; 


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1 (5) urges the National People’s Congress of 

2 China to enact an animal anticruelty law with provi3 sions banning the dog meat trade; and 

4 (6) affirms the commitment of the United 

5 States to the protection of animals and to the 

6 progress of animal protection around the world. 

Æ 


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