IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 71 
Urging all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade and to enforce 
existing laws against such trade. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 31, 2019 
Mr. HASTINGS (for himself and Mr. BUCHANAN) submitted the following con-
current resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Af-
fairs, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Urging all nations to outlaw the dog and cat meat trade 
and to enforce existing laws against such trade. 
Whereas a bipartisan domestic prohibition on the knowing 
slaughter, transportation, possession, purchase, or sale of 
a dog or cat for human consumption was included in sec-
tion 12515 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 
(Public Law 115–334), which was enacted on December 
20, 2018; 
Whereas the dog and cat meat trade occurs throughout the 
world, primarily in Asia; 
Whereas established dog meat markets still exist today; 
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Whereas Humane Society International, Animals Asia Foun-
dation, and others estimate that 30,000,000 dogs and 
10,000,000 cats die annually worldwide as a result of the 
dog and cat meat trade, and those organizations have 
found that a considerable number of the dogs and cats 
in this 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 there have been reports of abuse, poor living condi-
tions, and cruel slaughtering techniques for dogs and cats 
farmed for their meat; 
Whereas many dogs and cats die during transport to slaugh-
terhouses 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; 
Whereas the extreme suffering of dogs and cats at such 
slaughterhouses and on transportation trucks would 
breach anti-cruelty laws in the United States and other 
countries; 
Whereas many government officials, civil society advocates, 
and activists are working to end the dog and cat meat 
trade on anticruelty and public health grounds, and the 
Governments of Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Phil-
ippines, and Hong Kong have passed laws banning the 
dog meat trade; 
Whereas the World Health Organization has linked the dog 
meat industry to human outbreaks of trichinellosis, chol-
era, and rabies. 
Whereas those involved in the dog meat industry are at an 
increased health risk for zoonotic diseases, such as rabies, 
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which can transfer from dogs to humans through infec-
tious material such as saliva; 
Whereas the spread of disease may be exacerbated by unsani-
tary conditions of slaughter and by the sale of dog and 
cat meat at open-air markets and restaurants; and 
Whereas the World Health Organization and the Global Alli-
ance for Rabies Control have both acknowledged the link 
between the spread of rabies and the dog meat trade 
which sees large numbers of dogs of unknown disease 
status moved vast distances: Now, therefore be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress— 
(1) calls for an end to the consumption and 
trade of dog and cat meat on cruelty and public 
health grounds; 
(2) urges all nations with a dog or cat meat 
trade to adopt and enforce laws banning that trade; 
and 
(3) affirms the commitment of the United 
States to advancing the cause of animal protection 
and animal welfare, both domestically and around 
the world. 
Æ 
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