IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 401 

Urging China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, 

Cambodia, Laos, India, and all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat 

trade and to enforce existing laws against the trade. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

Mr. HASTINGS (for himself and Mr. BUCHANAN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Urging China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, India, and all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade and to 

enforce existing laws against the trade. 

Whereas Humane Society International, Animals Asia Foundation, and others estimate that 30,000,000 dogs and a 

great number of cats die annually across Asia for the dog 

and cat meat trade; 

Whereas these organizations have exposed the extreme suffering of dogs and cats at slaughterhouses and on transportation trucks, suffering that would breach anti-cruelty 

laws in the United States and other countries and is an 

affront to public morality in all countries where it occurs; 


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Whereas Humane Society International, Animals Asia Foundation and Chinese media reports have found that a considerable number of the dogs and cats in the dog and cat 

meat trade are stolen pets still wearing collars when they 

reach the slaughterhouses, in addition to stray dogs and 

cats who are captured for slaughter; 

Whereas many dogs and cats die during transport to slaughterhouses after days or weeks crammed into small cages 

on the back of vehicles, without food or water, and others 

suffer illness and injury during transport, such as broken 

bones; 

Whereas Humane Society International and Animals Asia 

Foundation have found that dogs and cats who reach the 

slaughterhouses are typically killed with shocking brutality, without any regard for humane treatment, in 

South Korea, China, and other countries; 

Whereas British, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Indonesian scientists and government agencies have found 

that the dog and cat meat trade of capturing, transporting, slaughtering, and butchering of dogs and cats, 

and the consumption of dog and cat meat, poses health 

risks such as rabies infection to the traders, slaughterhouse workers, and consumers; 

Whereas the World Health Organization reports that a majority of deaths caused by rabies infections happen in 

Asia and Africa, and the rabies virus is found in dogs 

traded for human consumption in the Philippines and 

other countries; 

Whereas Chinese reports and court verdicts show that dog 

meat traders also sell meat from dogs and cats who have 

died of poisoning, contributing to the food safety risks; 


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Whereas the dog and cat meat trade breaches food safety 

laws and regulations of some of these countries, which 

have policies that include bans on processing or selling 

meat from animals who have died of illnesses or unknown 

causes; 

Whereas China’s ‘‘one certificate for one dog policy’’, introduced by China’s Ministry of Agriculture in a 2013 directive to prevent the transmission of animal diseases across 

provincial boundaries, is routinely flouted by dog transporters who are required to have a vaccination and quarantine certificate for each dog and cat shipped across 

provincial boundaries but rarely possess such paperwork, 

as many of the animals are reportedly stolen pets; 

Whereas millions of citizens in these countries have expressed 

support for law-making and law enforcement against the 

dog and cat meat trade, such as the more than 8,600,000 

Chinese people who have so far expressed their support 

in an online poll for a March 2016 legislative proposal to 

ban trade in both dog and cat meat, making the proposal 

the most popular of all 142 legislative proposals made 

available for online voting in China in 2016; 

Whereas the majority of people in these countries do not consume dog or cat meat and dog and cat meat is not a part 

of mainstream Asian culinary practice, as demonstrated, 

for example, by a June 2016 poll commissioned by China’s Beijing Animal Welfare Association, which found 

that 69.5 percent of Chinese surveyed had never eaten 

dog meat and that it was a very rare food choice for the 

remainder; 

Whereas activists in such countries as China, South Korea, 

the Philippines, and Thailand have led public protests 

against the dog and cat meat trade, pulled over trucks 


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crammed with dogs and cats on their way to slaughterhouses, and worked to rehabilitate, shelter, and adopt 

dogs and cats rescued from the trade; 

Whereas Korea Animal Rights Advocates hosted the International Conference to End the Dog Meat Industry of 

Korea on August 5, 2016; 

Whereas pet-keeping has risen in India, the Philippines, 

China, and other countries with a dog and cat meat 

trade, and opposition to the dog and cat meat trade has 

grown within those countries as pet-keeping encourages 

compassion for animals; 

Whereas 11,000,000 people around the world have called 

upon the Government of China to end the annual Yulin 

dog meat festival and outlaw the dog meat trade; and 

Whereas the practice of dog and cat meat consumption is 

greatest in but not limited to Asia, and occurs to a limited degree in other regions of the world: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) calls for an end to the dog and cat meat in3 dustry because it— 

4 (A) is responsible for extreme animal cru5 elty; 

6 (B) involves the theft of companion ani7 mals; 

8 (C) is opposed by many Asian people; and 


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1 (D) poses food safety risks and threatens 

2 public health for citizens and international visi3 tors in these countries; 

4 (2) urges the Governments of China, South 

5 Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indo6 nesia, Cambodia, Laos, India, and all other nations 

7 that have a dog or cat meat trade to adopt and en8 force laws banning the dog and cat meat trade, as 

9 part of anti-cruelty laws or otherwise; 

10 (3) urges the Governments of China, South 

11 Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indo12 nesia, Cambodia, Laos, India, and all other nations 

13 to increase efforts to prevent any leather or fur by14 products of the dog and cat meat trade from enter15 ing international markets; 

16 (4) encourages the Governments of China, 

17 South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, 

18 Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, India, and all other na19 tions to use their food safety laws to crack down on 

20 the sale of dog and cat meat, a product that is out21 side most countries’ food safety regulatory mecha22 nisms; 

23 (5) affirms the commitment of the United 

24 States to the protection of animals and to advancing 


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1 the progress of animal protection around the world; 

2 and 

3 (6) urges executive branch officials to include 

4 the dog and cat meat trade on the agenda for dis5 cussion with the officials of countries that have a 

6 dog or cat meat industry. 

Æ 


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